Argumentum Ad Ignorantiam
by Lightybug
Summary: Rei Ryugazaki is an accomplished university student and he is also an up and coming star on the school's track team. Everything in his life is straight forward and logical to the max. That is until one fateful encounter in the ocean that leads him to question everything from his path in life to the logical views he's had on everything his entire life. Mermaid!AU. Also on AO3.
1. Chapter 1

Everyone knew Rei Ryugazaki was as serious as a person could get when it came to ethics and logic. The cobalt haired teen was one of the brainiest at his university. He was the star of the track team, a physics genius, and, as he claimed, very knowledgeable about many things

Rei firmly believed that what his eyes couldn't see didn't exist, meaning as a child he was never one for stories about magic or mythical creatures.

That is until his own two eyes proved him wrong in his assumptions.

* * *

Rei rode the train to the university everyday, his nose usually buried in a book along the way. At the stop before the school, he would get out and jog the last stretch as part of his training. Even as a first year student at the university, Rei had made himself known as an accomplished track star. His pole vaulting was envied by several upper classmen, and he was one of the most physically fit members of the team.

Solitary was a word that described Rei pretty well. He didn't have many people he could call friends. Most of the people he talked to were acquaintances from class or teammates. He was probably the most introverted a person could get. He didn't like going to parties, preferring to spend his nights alone studying rather than texting or hanging out with anyone he knew.

"Oi! Ryugazaki!" A call came from across the track training area and Rei looked up from tying his shoes to see a third year, Kakeru Shiba, jogging towards him. "Hey! So Ryugazaki, we're having a little get together after the meet this weekend at the beach. Since you're a big part of the team, we wanted to you come! How about it?"

"W-well," Rei stammered, blinking a few times, "I don't really-"

"Yeah everyone knows you don't go out a lot, but come on! It'll be fun!" Kakeru said, giving Rei a grin.

"Alright," Rei agreed, nodding and adjusting his glasses, "But I won't have to swim right?"

"Eh? You can't swim Ryugazaki-kun?" Rei sheepishly shook his head. Swimming was foolish in his mind. A complete step backwards for mankind. Plus, science had only explored a minuscule 3% of the ocean! What could exist in the dark, cold waters…

Not that Rei believed that anything was down there except fish. Silly things like sea monsters were absolutely ridiculous.

"Well, that's no problem! There'll be a barbecue and we might get a boat to go out on the water if the weather is nice. You can ride with us there on the train after the meet, yeah?" Rei nodded and Kakeru gave him a grin. The coach hollered for the third-year to get back to work running laps and Rei finished tying his shoe before immersing himself in the calculations for his vaulting.

* * *

Needless to say, the track meet went very well for the team. Rei won several medals for his pole vaulting and other students also succeeded in their specific events too. After the meet, numerous members of the team, Rei included, were on the train headed for the beach. There was excited chatter among them about the successful meet and the fun planned for the beach.

"Yeah I totally secured my uncle's boat," Kakeru bragged to the other teammates on the train, "It's gonna be awesome!" Rei was listening quietly. He was a bit tired from the meet but he wanted to seem upbeat for some reason. He actually wanted his teammates to like him and not think he was some sort of completely anti-social person. His mid kept wandering back to the homework he had for the weekend but he kept shaking the thoughts away. That was what the weekend was for.

The weather at the beach was perfect. The sky was starting to get dyed a deep orange as the sun sank. Rei could only describe the sky as beautiful. The blending light pinks, oranges, and yellows swirling through the sky, outlining the deep sun was breath taking to Rei.

Not that he'd ever utter that out loud of course. He knew most guys weren't keen on expressing things they found to be beautiful, but Rei had found all this life he had a keen eye for beauty, to pick up on what was beautiful.

"Hey, Ryugazaki-kun! Stop spacing out! Let's go!" Kakeru grinned, nudging Rei before he and the other ran onto the beach, most of them ditching their shoes in favor of feeling the sand between their toes. Rei followed hesitantly, depositing his bag under a tent set up and toeing off his shoes.

The smell of the grill frying fish and the sounds of cheers and laughter filled the air as the night went on. Rei was surprised by how well thought out the occasion was. From what he had been told, it was just a small get together, but it turned out that more than half of the team showed up, bringing various friends and girlfriends along with them.

Rei participated, finding himself locked into a few conversations occasionally with teammates he hardly spoke to. Mostly they praised his talents and then caught up with someone else they'd much rather talk to. Despite that, Rei found himself having a decent amount of fun. The fish made was good and the night air was cool but not too cold.

"Hey! Let's head to the boat!" Someone yelled out the suggestion and it was met with loud cheers of agreement. Rei fund himself shuffled forwards and onto a decently sized fishing boat. It wasn't the most ideal of transportation methods. It reeked of stale fish and bait, but none of the other people seemed to care, or even notice for that matter,

"You sure about this Shiba-sensei? Those clouds look like they could come in pretty soon," a second year student asked.

"We'll be fine! I looked up the weather reports and everything!" Kakeru grinned.

The boat moved onto the open water swiftly, the motor sputtering a few times during the start-up, but running smoothly afterwards. Several people had leapt recklessly off the boat, their bodies splashing against the water and sending spray up onto the deck. Rei was glad he left his shoes in a dry place. He disliked getting his clothes wet, but his shoes especially.

Rei had gotten used to the slight spray of salty water against his clothes from the careless team members, but he tensed when a fat drop of rain fell, hitting him in the forehead and trickling down his face.

"Shiba-sensei!" He called up to the third-year who was manning the boat controls, "It's starting to rain."

"Don't be such a worry-wart, Ryugazaki-kun! It'll pass!"

But the rain didn't pass. The storm moved in quickly over the ocean, the wind picked up, and the waves started to surge higher, only bringing hollers of joy from the students still in the water.

"Shiba-sensei, I really must protest. I think-"

"Gosh, Ryugazaki-kun! It's fine! I take this boat out all the time with my uncle. There's nothing to worry about." Kakeru gave him a grin that quickly disappeared from his face when the boat rocked dangerously to the side, hit by an exceptionally strong wave, "Well… Maybe we could head back now," Kakeru said sheepishly.

People were still clambering back up the ladder of the boat when the rain started. The drops felt in sheets, hard and heavy against the boat, creating a din of water on wood and metal. The last few people weren't even on the boat yet when the waves seemed to almost suddenly become even more violent. The water slammed the sides of the boat, sending large splashes of water onto the deck.

A cry rang out from the ladder when the last student was trying to clamber on. The metal rungs were wet and slippery, and a wave hitting the side of the boat had sent someone falling back into the water. Rei dimly heard the yell of the person's name as his eyes scanned the deck of the boat for a life jacket, a life preserver, anything that would float.

A splash rang out as someone made the move, a completely idiotic move in Rei's opinion, of jumping into the water to get the other student.

Yells were lacing the air among the sounds of the wind, waves, and rain. People were screaming to get back in the boat, yelling for assistance, and Rei was frozen in place. He certainly didn't know what to do. He had been roped into this! He didn't even want to come on the boat in the first-

Rei's thoughts were cut short as the boat lurched and his balance failed him. His feet slipped and skidded dangerously on the wet deck and, with another shake of the boat, he fell to the side. He eyes widened and he felt himself slipping as his scrambled to find purchase on_something_ on the deck. His hands were sliding against the cold, wet wood and, finally, he grasped onto a metal bar.

Then he realized he was practically hanging off the side of the boat. His logical sense failed in that moment, his heart beat picking up as he cried out for help over the rain. Everyone else was trying to help others on the other side of the boat. Rei was alone. He felt himself losing grip on the slick metal, his fingers going numb from the cold and his grip failing from the water.

His fingers slipped and he cried out, scrabbling for anything. He was in the air for not even a second before his body hit the violent waves.

Rei had been in a pool once in his life, when his parents tried to get him to take swimming lessons at a summer camp as a toddler. He had hated the water, pitched a tantrum about how the chlorine stung his eyes, and never went back in.

Until now.

The ocean was nothing like how he remembered that pool. It was hopelessly dark, his eyes burned even worse from the salt water. The taste of the salt in his mouth was overwhelming and vile. It made him want to lose his dinner, but he didn't even have the space in his head to think about getting sick in that moment.

He was flailing in the water. Some how he had come up twice by kicked and moving his arms to gasp a breath of air and cough up some of the water that had made it's way down his throat. He was panicked and cold, and exhausted on top of it. He kept yelling for help but his voice was lost in the storm.

Water rushed down his throat as he sank into the water again and didn't have any more strength to push himself up. His vision was darkening at the edges, though he could barely distinguish the change from the hopelessly dark surroundings.

He witnessed a flash of color before his eyes slipped shut. He felt something warm brush his cheek before he body sank into unconsciousness.

And, oddly enough, he felt a calm wash over him, as if there was nothing to worry about in the world.


	2. Chapter 2

_….Found him… at the beach? …Storm was unexpected… Don't worry…_

Rei woke up to bright light and the off blue colored walls of a hospital room. His vision was blurred, his glasses missing from the bridge of his nose, and he squinted at the whiteness of the room, blinking a few times to try in vain to clear his vision. He pushed himself up from the bed, the starched white sheets shifting as he sat up. He realized was clothed in scratchy hospital garb. Blinking slowly, he looked around the room, trying to remember what happened and why he was there.

Then it dawned on him.

The boat, the storm, the ocean, the darkness. Everything came back and suddenly his head hurt from the rush of memories and his mouth felt dry. He could remember the intense burn of the salt in his mouth and throat vividly and just the thoughts made him thirsty.

"Oh! You're awake!"

Rei's head snapped up from where his lavender colored eyes were focused on his hands in his lap. A nurse was standing in the doorway, a pleasant look on her face.

"How are you feeling, Ryugazaki-kun?" The nurse asked, going to the window to open the blinds, letting bright, afternoon sunlight in.

"Um… A little thirsty," Rei said, his throat rough. The nurse gave him a sweet smile before she bustled off to the adjacent bathroom. Rei heard the water running in the bathroom as his gaze went to the window, his gaze settling on the sparkling, blue ocean outside. He felt like something was amiss and he had to force himself to look away when the nurse came back.

"Thank you," Rei said, accepting the plastic cup of water the nurse offered him. He drank it quickly, glad to have the cool liquid soothe his throat. "Can you tell me what happened? He asked, placing the cup onto the table next to the hospital bed.

"Oh, of course!" The nurse said, "It was very peculiar," she started, her gaze becoming slightly troubled, "The boat that was caught in the storm made it to shore alright. Thankfully, no one was injured."

"That's good," Rei said slowly, "But what happened to me?"

"Oh! Right sorry," the nurse said sheepishly, "We found you on the shore passed out. You must be a very strong swimmer, Ryugazaki-kun! The boat was nearly three kilometers away from the beach. You were breathing fine and everything too! Thank goodness," the nurse said quickly, filling him in, "You've been here just over twelve hours."

A strong swimmer? What kind of nonsense was that? Rei didn't bothering asking. If it was by some miracle he made it to shore completely unharmed he wouldn't question it, or at least not question a nurse who knew nothing about it.

"My parents?" He asked instead.

"We called them when we found out who you were. They said they would be here in a few hours and that was a little while ago so you should probably get dressed. Your clothes were washed and they're in that cabinet over there."

"And my glasses?" Rei asked, already getting annoyed at the constant blurriness.

"They weren't in your affects," the nurse said, her face troubled, "I'm sorry, we didn't find any at the scene I don't think." Rei nodded and the nurse excused herself before leaving the room, sliding the door closed behind her.

Rei got dressed with mild annoyance. Zippers were especially hard to configured with his impaired vision. He hoped his parents would bring him spare glasses.

* * *

As expected, there was much chatter at the university when Rei went back to school Monday. The story of the boating accident had been twisted to include a shark attack and a sea monster. By the end of the day, the story was too unbelievable to even tell anymore and by track practice talk ceased.

Rei had spent the weekend normally, as if the incident had never happened. He had finished his homework and studied for a while, but he found himself getting distracted often by the sight of the ocean outside his window. Eventually, he had to close the shade to be able to concentrate.

Rei disliked his new glasses. He and his parents had gone out and gotten him new ones since it turned out his spares were the wrong prescription and the frames were too small anyway.

The new pair was too heavy. They just didn't feel right on the bridge of his nose and, to top it off, whenever he looked in the mirror he was reminded of their less than appealing yellow color. Rei had liked his old glasses. He didn't wear red frequently so the color of his old frames had complemented nicely with most things that he owned.

That's how he ended up at the beach, walking along the shore searching desperately for any flash of red in the water. He knew it was probably a lost cause, but he still couldn't help but look, right?

Maybe it was just a mental ploy his mind had invented for him to go back to the beach. He hadn't been able to get the thought of just how he got out of the ocean out of his head. The doctors and nurses all thought he swam out. His muscled arms gave the appearance that he would be a strong swimmer so he let them believe that.

But in actuality, the question had been nagging him. He knew he kept avoiding the truth, not wanting to believe it.

Someone – something – had saved him. There was _something_ in the water, whether it was human or an entity entirely not discovered by man. He stopped walking as he thought about it, his fingers going up to press his cheek that suddenly felt warm, right where he had felt warmth when he was sinking and passing out. He let out a sigh, letting his hand fall back to his side. It was getting late and the thoughts going through his head were puzzling and ridiculous.

Letting out another tired sigh, Rei headed home, deciding he'd come back tomorrow and ask some of the fishermen if they had found his glasses in their nets. He knew it was mostly likely a pipe dream, but why not try?

* * *

Rei had no idea how but he was drawn into a marine biology lecture the next day during his free period. It was an introduction to entice students, especially first year students, into studying the field. It was always physics for Rei though, so why was he there?

The lecture wasn't awful; Rei actually found it quite interesting. But he knew he didn't really want to study that. All he wanted to know was what had happened to him in the water, and maybe someone at the university had answers.

Rei had been trying to find a logical answer for three days now. The week was almost over and he had become too engrossed in research to have enough time to visit the beach again and continue his hopeless glasses hunt. The best thing he had come up with was that a dolphin or some other large sea mammal had saved him.

But that was a stretch, and probably the most illogical yet still logical situation Rei could come up with. With a groan, Rei pressed the palms of his hands to his forehead. Another wasted afternoon in the library. It was going to be a long night of studying, the third consecutive one in a row.

"Hey! You're Ryugazaki-kun, right?" Rei raised his head from his heads to see a girl standing there, a smile on her face. He recognized her as one of the third years at the lecture he had gone to.

"Yes, and you are?"

"I'm Miyu Yamada," the girl introduced excitedly, thrusting her hand in Rei's direction. He gingerly shook her hand and she smiled brighter, "I saw you at the marine biology lecture the other day! Since I helped with admissions day too, I've seen your file," she explained, "Are you considering marine bio? I always pegged you as a more mathematical guy, but we would love to have you. I've been a bio student all three years! I'd never want to do anything else." Rei nodded at her words, which were coming way too fast for him to process all of them.

"I'm still deciding," he finally managed to said, adjusting his glasses.

"Well I've seen you in here a lot lately looking up sea creatures and stuff," Miyu said, "N-not that I was _spying_ on you or anything! You're, like, the smartest student in your class this year so _anyone_ would be interested in you, y'know," she babbled quickly, her cheeks flushing slightly, "But anyway, we would love to have you studying with us! We have some of the best professors around! They study all sorts of life in the ocean and they have made some _really_ remarkable discoveries."

"I-I still don't know yet," Rei stammered, feeling mildly accosted, to say the least, by Miyu's overly ecstatic demeanor.

"Oh… Well even if you are still considering, you are so more than welcome to come to more lectures, or even if you have a free period stop by one of the labs! I mean, you can't participate or anything but you could watch or take notes or talk to some of our professors even. Here, I'll give you my number and you can call me or text me, or I can call you or text you! Only if you're interested of course! Whatever you prefer!" Miyu's busied herself jotting down her number on a scrap of paper before thrusting it Rei.

"Um… Thank you," he said, feeling exhausted by just talking to the girl for a few minutes. Had it been a few minutes? It seemed like longer and Rei was getting a headache. He looked up and realized Miyu was looking at him with wide expectant eyes. Adjusting his glasses awkwardly, his scribbled down his own number for the cellphone he seldom used and handed it to her.

"Thanks Ryugazaki-kun! I really hope you look into the field, okay? I'll definitely see you around or call you or text you or something, okay? See you later!" Rei waved half-heartedly and watched her dash out of the library. Once she was gone, he sighed, relaxing into the chair for a few moments before he packed up his bag, ready to head home. Tomorrow, he decided, tomorrow he would definitely go to the beach… or maybe he'd find one of those professors in his search for answers.

* * *

It wasn't until Friday that Rei could return once again to beach. A project had kept him busy on Thursday, even though he could barely concentrate. He had been itching to get to the beach, and he had forced himself to establish that finding his glasses wasn't his reason for it. He was walking along the wooden pier, surrounded by tethered fishing boats. Of the few fishermen left there for the day, none of them had found his glasses.

Rei resigned himself to standing at the end of wooden boardwalk, enjoying the sight of the setting sun. A peculiar feeling came over him. He suddenly became hyper aware that someone was watching him and he stopped walking, peering around himself. He looked forward to the end of the peer, narrowing his eyes slightly.

There was someone at the end of the boardwalk watching him. Upon walking closer, Rei saw a younger looking boy with tousled honey blond hair and bright, coral color eyes staring at him, his muscled arms supporting him as he held himself up on the edge of the pier, his lower body hidden from Rei in the water.

And he was wearing glasses, very familiar, red-framed glasses. Rei broke into a fast walk, stopping in front of the other boy to stare down at him. "Where did you find those?" he blurted out, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"I found them," the boy answered innocently, slipping the glasses off to twirl them between two fingers, "They don't even work. They make everything blurry," he huffed, giving Rei a small pout.

"That's because they're mine," Rei said, "I thought I had lost them." He crouched down, holding out his hand, "Can I have them back?" The boy's pout faded easily back into a smile and he handed the frames over before folding his arms and resting his chin on them, studying Rei with inquisitive eyes.

"What's your name?" The boy asked with no preamble, his pretty coral eyes looking Rei over before settling on his face.

"Oh… um," Rei stuttered, adjusting his glasses, "Rei Ryugazaki." The boy let out a bright laugh.

"That's a really pretty name!" He giggled, "I'm Nagisa Hazuki, but you can call me Nagisa, okay, Rei-chan?"

"Rei-chan?" Rei sputtered, feeling his cheeks heating up at the feminine add on, "That makes me sound like a girl!"

"But you have a girl's name," Nagisa said, cocking his head to the side slightly, "So do I! That means we should be friends, okay?" He asked excitedly, his eyes shining. Rei didn't know what to say. He had just met the kid, and now Nagisa was already calling them friends.

"I have to go," he said instead of answering the blond, feeling embarrassed and trapped by the bright gaze of the boy in front of him.

"Okay!" Nagisa nodded, reaching forward to snatch the glasses back from Rei's hand.

"Hey!"

"I'll see you again, Rei-chan!" Nagisa said happily, waving with the hand that held Rei's glasses captive before he smiled again, the look suddenly more mischievous than before, and disappeared from view into the water.

"Wait!" Rei cried out, moving to the edge of the boardwalk to see nothing below aside from the dark water of the ocean. Groaning softly in defeat, Rei stood up, adjusted his glasses again, and headed home, knowing he would have to return and find Nagisa again.


	3. Chapter 3

Rei purposefully got up early Saturday morning. He put on his tracksuit and told his parents he would be gone all day. He had spent a few minutes the previous night editing his morning run to finish off at the pier.

Going for his run on Saturday mornings was probably Rei's favorite weekend activity. The air was cool and the sky was colored with soft cerulean blues and pale pinks of the rising sun. After switching routinely between jogging and running for an hour, Rei circled around to the pier. He made his way to the spot where he had seen Nagisa the previous day at the boardwalk. He didn't know what he had been expecting. To see the bubbly blond in the same position as yesterday waiting for him?

As if.

Something told Rei that Nagisa was secretive. There was just a mysterious air about him; Rei could detect that from knowing him for ten minutes.

The port was crawling with fishermen all getting their boats out for the day. They were preparing nets, bait, and the waters were already scattered with several fishing boats. Rei suddenly felt like a total idiot. Nagisa had been swimming when he met him. There was no way he could safely swim with all the boats around.

Rei decided on a different approach. Of the fishermen that hadn't left yet, and didn't see too disgruntled about him interrupting them, he questioned them about Nagisa, even going to lengths of describing what the blond looked like. Even with a description, none of the fishermen had any idea of how he was talking about. Giving up on the fishermen, Rei decided to try another approach.

* * *

It had been a few hours of hopeless searching the Internet for Nagisa's name before Rei gave up and started on his homework instead. Nagisa just didn't exist _anywhere_. The fishermen didn't know him and now the World Wide Web didn't have any information on him either. Rei was at a loss. The only person he could ask would be Nagisa himself, and he didn't know where to even find the blond.

The sun was just starting to set and Rei was on his way home, walking the path next to the beach.

"Rei-chan! Hey! Rei-chan over here!" An excited call came from the side. Rei looked over to see someone waving at him from the water and, judging from the nickname, he knew exactly who it was. Mentally cursing at himself for getting sand in his running shoes, Rei walked across the beach until he reached the water, stopping at a point where the salty liquid couldn't touch his shoes. He found himself not knowing what to say. He barely knew the boy anyway. Then he noticed his glasses perched atop the wind-swept blond hair and he felt a spark of annoyance.

"Can I have my glasses back now?" he called out, keeping the annoyance he felt evident in his tone.

"Aw, Rei-chan! Don't be like that," Nagisa laughed, "That's no fun. Here, just come get them from me okay?" He looked at Rei with expectant eyes, a sweet smile on his face.

"I… I can't swim," Rei called out, suddenly embarrassed for some reason. Maybe it was because the blond was bobbing in the water so easily, as if to took him little to no effort whatsoever.

"Can't swim?" Nagisa said, his eyebrows turning up in sympathy, "That's terrible, Rei-chan! I'm sorry for you," he said, giving Rei a small frown.

"Don't be sorry," Rei sighed, finding himself feeling _bad_ for somehow getting rid of the smile on Nagisa's face, "Not everyone can swim, you know." A momentary look of pure confusion flashed over Nagisa's face before he replaced it with his smile again.

"R-right. Of course," he nodded, "Well, how about this, Rei-chan! Meet me at tomorrow where the boats were! Where we met each other yesterday. I promise to give you your glasses back for good if you meet me. Promise Rei-chan?"

"Oh, um… Yes, alright," Rei said, finding himself nodding and feeling flustered again, "I'll meet you there, I promise." A bright laugh sprang from Nagisa's throat and he smiled wide, nodding eagerly.

"Okay! Bye Rei-chan!" He waved until Rei was out of sight, smiling to himself before he let his hand drop back into the water. He couldn't wipe the grin off his face, not that he wanted to in the first place.

* * *

Rei returned to the pier Sunday afternoon after completing all his homework. The docks were deserted. Most of the fishermen didn't come to work on Sundays, and those who did were long gone. As promised, Nagisa was hanging off the edge of the boardwalk, as he was the last time Rei saw him there.

"Hi Rei-chan!" Nagisa called and waved as Rei walked over. Even before Rei could say anything, Nagisa thrust his hand out, holding the promised glasses. Rei hesitantly took them, eying the blond's cheerful smile with wary eyes. He slipped his glasses into his pocket, not making the same mistake as last time of having them in a place where Nagisa could easily take them back. He became aware of Nagisa's eyes trained on him, wide and shining.

"So um," Rei managed to say awkwardly as he sat down on the pier, crossing his legs under him, "Do you live around here? And where are your parents? Do they know you're always here alone?"

"You ask a lot of questions, Rei-chan," Nagisa giggled, "I'm not a child, I can very well go swimming by myself," he huffed, giving Rei a fake pout before he brightened up again momentarily, "What about you, Rei-chan? You spend a lot of time away from home. I see you running a lot by the beach. Do you like running?"

"Yes, I'm on the track team at my university," Rei said once he recovered from Nagisa onslaught of questions, a hint of pride in his voice.

They talked for a while longer, mostly Nagisa asking Rei questions and Rei answering awkwardly. Something about the boy made him feel flustered, but it wasn't a _bad_ feeling. Seeing someone as excitable and full of life as Nagisa was refreshing to Rei. Being around sleep deprived university students all day wasn't exactly exciting. Nagisa was like a breath of fresh air.

"Hey, Rei-chan," Nagisa said, getting his attention, "You spaced out," he giggled, "It's getting late. You should probably head home right?" Rei nodded, standing up and stretching. The sky was almost dark, only a few streaks of color left from the setting sun.

"I'll see you again, right?" Rei asked before he could stop himself, feeling a light blush come to his cheeks.

"Yes, of course, Rei-chan!" Nagisa said happily, giving Rei a smile, "We're friends. Friends spend lots time together!" Rei nodded and gave a small smile of his own before he started walking away. "Bye Rei-chan!" Rei heard Nagisa's farewell and a splash behind him. He spun around quickly, his eyes focusing on the edge of the pier. He saw a flash of color that he would've completely missed if he had blinked. Feeling perplexed for some reason, Rei turned again, moving to press his hand against his pocket to ensure his glasses were still there, and headed home.

Later that night, Rei still felt as if something was up with Nagisa. He just couldn't figure it out. Nagisa had barely answered any of the questions Rei had asked him but Rei had ended up giving Nagisa plenty of information. That bothered him. He barely knew Nagisa and yet he had given him a lot of information: his name, his age, where he went to school. All he had about the blond was his name and that he liked to swim.

But it didn't seem that Nagisa just _liked_ to swim. The way he completely ignored the water around him, as if he wasn't concerned at all about it's presence, was peculiar. Even the world's greatest swimmers, the Olympians, were conscious about the water, but not Nagisa.

Sighing in defeat, Rei pulled out his phone and typed in the number Miyu gave him on the scrap of paper. He didn't call her, not wanting to talk to anyone, but he did send her a text asking what room the lectures she mentioned were in.

* * *

Rei couldn't believe what he was doing. He had successfully been accepted into the physics college at the university and somehow he had found himself also adding a class in oceanic discovery to his schedule. He was trying to convince himself that he had no idea why he was pursuing the topic, but he still wanted answers for what had happened nearly a week ago. Had it been a week? If felt longer.

"Ryugazaki-kun?" Miyu's voice behind him startled him from his thoughts. He turned to see the girl looking up at him with expectant eyes, "So, did you uh… pick your college?" She asked, trying and failing to keep the expectancy out of her voice. Rei sighed, adjusting his newly reclaimed red glasses slightly.

"I'm studying physics," he said. Miyu's gaze visibly dulled and a frown appeared on her lips, reminding Rei of Nagisa's cute pouts.

_Cute_? Did he really just think that?

"That's a shame, Ryugazaki-kun," Miyu sighed, snapping Rei back to the conversation.

"Oh… Well, um, sorry," he said awkwardly, "I'm never intended to focus my entire life on marine biology. I can't even swim," he said sheepishly, meaning for the last part to be a joke, "But I am taking one class in that college for my life science credit," he added.

"Really?" Miyu asked, snatching his scheduling paper from his hand before he could protest, "Oh, awesome! I'm in that class too! I wanted to take it first year but I never got the chance. You're so lucky, Ryugazaki-kun!" He handed the paper back, obviously satisfied with the turn of events, "So I'll see you later then! Great! Okay, bye Ryugazaki-kun!" Rei watched her walk off with some other girl students before he headed in the opposite direction.

Rei loved physics. _Everything_ just made so much straightforward sense. The variables and equations were like a second language in his mind. He busied himself with the work assigned in his classes, slowly losing the hesitant and tense feelings he had been having for several days. Physics were truly an art. Even the equations _looked_ beautiful. Then there was the pure logic of it all. Everything in the topic followed laws and equations and rules. With the right mind to solve a problem, everything could have a completely logical answer.

And that, Rei decided, was why his miraculous escape from the ocean's clutches puzzled and irritated him to no end.

And that was why, next period, he was standing in front of a biology lecture hall across campus. Sighing with trepidation, he pushed the door open. Miyu almost immediately tugged him into the room as if she had been waiting for him. Who was he kidding though? She obviously had been, and it annoyed Rei for some reason.

Miyu whispered comments to Rei the entire lecture, her comments ranging from her experiences to how cool she thoughts things were to the frequent question of if he was liking the lecture or not. By the end, Rei had a headache starting to pound in his skull, but he wanted to talk to the professor.

Professor Watanabe was an older man who had spent his practically his entire life at the university. He had gone to school there, gotten hired, and he was one of the longest serving professors. The university funded his frequent research outings, excursions onto the ocean that he often brought students along too.

"Ryugazaki, right?" Professor Watanabe asked when Rei approached him when the lecture was over.

"Yes, sir," Rei said, giving him a nod, "The lecture was very interesting. I was wondering if you have ever… found anything on your research expeditions."

"Yes, naturally. We have made a great number of discoveries about the oceans and environments in the area," the professor said.

"Oh, um… I meant have you ever found anything… not natural? Anything science can't explain?" Rei said, trying to configure his words correctly to not sound like a complete idiot. Watanabe eyed him with a raised eyebrow before turned back to the projector he used in his presentation.

"You shouldn't vocalize those thoughts in my department, Ryugazaki," he said, "We are serious about our oceanic discoveries here, and if you are truly interested, you need to get serious." Rei felt embarrassment wash over him and he gave Watanabe a quick apology before he walked quickly from the room.

* * *

"Stupid! So stupid," Rei muttered to himself. He was supposedly out for a run for his track training, but he had mostly spent the time walking and thinking about what the hell had come over him. Rei wasn't one to take embarrassment lightly. It would take him days to get over the littlest things. His parents used to tell him when he was younger that he was too sensitive, but Rei couldn't help it. His pride was something he was very protective over. Making a fool out of himself wasn't something he let go of easily.

He found himself at the beach where he had seen Nagisa again. Some how, just thinking of the blond made him feel less tense. Sighing, he lifted his gaze to look at the water and, to his surprise, he saw a familiar head of blond hair bobbing in the waves.

"Nagisa?" he called out. It was then that he realized that he had never said the other boy's name before and he felt guilty for some reason.

"Hi Rei-chan!" Nagisa called back, waving cheerfully, "Come swim with me?" He asked, his eyes wide and expectant.

"You know I can't swim," Rei sighed, attempting to give the blond an exasperated look though it only came off as tired. Nagisa huffed and gave him a pout, crossing his arms, causing a light splash in the water around him.

"No wonder you looked so funny flailing around in the water," he said quietly, but not quiet enough for Rei to not hear him.

"What was that?" Rei asked quickly, his eyes widening as he started to piece things together in his head. Nagisa's eyes widened as well before he quickly sank beneath the water, "Hey! Wait! Nagisa!" Rei yelled. Upon getting no answer and not seeing Nagisa come back up, Rei took off into a run up the beach.

He reached the pier in record time. As he expected, Nagisa was hanging off the edge of the pier again. Panting slightly, Rei walked over to him and crouched so he wasn't towering over the blond.

"It was you," Rei started, looking at Nagisa with expectant and wondering eyes. Nagisa looked up at him, his coral eyes slightly sad.

"You're not mad?"

"Mad? Why would I be mad? Rei sputtered, "You saved my life. I was _drowning_," he emphasized, "You must be a better swimmer than I thought you were."

"You still don't get it do you," Nagisa asked, mostly to himself, under his breath before turning his gaze back to Rei, "Do you want to learn to swim, Rei-chan?" He asked, his eyes shining slightly and a smile back on his lips.

"Learn to swim? Why… Where did that come from? What I want to know is why you saved me? And why were in the water in the middle of a storm? And-"

"Rei-chan," Nagisa cut him off, his voice firm, "Do you want me to teach you to swim?" He asked again, rephrasing his question in a tone to let Rei know he was serious. Rei was a bit taken aback, and confused not to mention.

"I… I guess so?" Rei answered awkwardly. Upon receiving a pointed look for Nagisa, he sighed, "Fine. Yes, I… I'd like that," he heard himself saying, questioning in his head where the words even came from. Nagisa smiled brightly and extended a wet hand up to Rei.

"Let's shake on it, Rei-chan." As soon as Rei clasped his hand, Nagisa's grip tightened and a playful look appeared in his eyes. With a strong tug that Rei hadn't expected the blond to be capable of, Nagisa yanked him off the edge of the pier.

Rei body hit the chilly water with a messy splash, his body plunging a few feet under the waves from the force of Nagisa's pull. Nagisa's hand was still in his, warm and smooth. It made Rei feel safe, like being submerged underwater with no oxygen was perfectly alright. He hesitantly opened his eyes, and what he saw made his mind come screeching to a halt.

Nagisa's skin ended at his hips. The rest of his body was a long, scaled tail. Rei opened his mouth to say something, to yell, but he had forgotten he was underwater. Bubbles of air escaped his lungs, flooding from his mouth quickly before he snapped his jaw shut again, staring at Nagisa with wide eyes. Nagisa was smiling softly, his eyes slightly guarded but gentle nonetheless.

Rei's eyes moved from Nagisa's face to his _tail_. The appendage was longer than Rei would've expected. It was covered in scales, probably quite hard scales for protection. The scales shimmered slightly where light from above hit them. The color started at a darker pink where Nagisa's hips ended and slowly bled in color down to a very light pink at the end where he had a fin, much like a fish. Rei was snapped out of his observation trance by a burning feeling in his chest. For the second time in a few moments he had forgotten he was underwater.

Nagisa gave a light tug on his arm and began to swim up, pulling Rei with him. Rei broke the surface, taking in deep breaths of air before his gaze snapped to Nagisa who was still holding him up in the water.

"Y-you… You're," Rei stammered, trying to find the right words to say and regain his breath at the same time, which launched him into a few coughs. Nagisa looked at him worriedly for a moment before he helped Rei back up onto the pier by basically lifting him out of the water with little effort. Rei took a moment to regain his breath before he turned his gaze back to Nagisa who was once more hanging off the end of the pier.

But now it was different. _Everything_ made sense now. His miraculous survival, his suspicions about Nagisa, everything.

"Rei-chan?" Nagisa spoke up quietly, his coral eyes worried. Rei looked towards him and gave him a smile, which Nagisa hesitantly returned, "I'm sorry for getting your clothes wet, Rei-chan," he said. Rei stared at him. Of all the things he could've said and he apologized for wet clothes. Rei couldn't help but laugh.

"Don't apologize," he said once his laughter ceased. Nagisa smiled back at him, the worry leaving his features. It was unspoken, but he knew that Rei wouldn't go and tell anyone about what he had just seen. He feltsomething warm blooming in his chest and he knew he could trust Rei. They were friends after all.

"Hey, Rei-chan? Meet me at the beach at the end of the week, okay? And bring something to swim in," he said, pushing off from the pier. Rei nodded in agreement and Nagisa disappeared into the ocean again, the bright color of his tail flashing under the water before he was gone.


	4. Chapter 4

Rei was purposefully taking his time walking to the beach. It was early Saturday and, as he had promised, he was going to meet Nagisa. The full realization of Nagisa's true nature had sunk in pretty easily. It had only taken Rei a few hours to force his mind into believing that there were creatures called _mermaids_ that existed.

Well, Nagisa would be a merman, right?

Groaning as he frustrated himself again, Rei decided to think about other things, like the fact that he had agreed in a spur of a moment to let Nagisa teach him how to swim. And if that was anything, he had actually told the blond he _wanted_ to swim. Rei had always told himself that swimming was probably the least beautiful sport in existence, and yet he had bought himself a swimsuit, which he was currently wearing under his sweat pants, and heading for the beach.

Just as he started to think of declining Nagisa's offer, as hard as that would be, he arrived at the beach to see Nagisa waiting for him. As per the obvious norm, the blond was bobbing a few meters out in the calm waves. The beach was deserted due to it being barely past eight in the morning.

"Rei-chan! You came!" Nagisa called to him, waving in his regular enthusiastic manner. Rei gave him a hurried greeting before he hesitantly slipped off his sweat pants, shoes, and tracksuit jacket, stowing them in a small backpack he had brought. He abandoned his glasses for the use of goggles he had also though to buy before he tucked the bag away along the rocks at the edge of the beach. He hoped it would be there, and still be dry, when he got back.

"Come on, Rei-chan! Hurry up!" Nagisa called, his voice impatient but laced with a teasing tone.

"A-are you sure?" Rei asked, "Isn't it deep where you are?" Saying he was nervous would be an understatement.

"It's fine, Rei-chan! I'll protect you! I didn't let you drown the other day, right?" Nagisa said, making a good point. Rei timidly started into the water, feeling his toes lose some feeling from the numbing cold. Once he was in to his waist and still standing he stopped, looking to Nagisa for _something_. Nagisa rolled his eyes playfully and swam forward. Rei jumped slightly when he felt Nagisa's tail brush his swimsuit-clad legs. Nagisa giggled at his expression and took both of Rei's hands in his own before he tugged sharply, causing Rei to stumble and fall forward into the water, sufficiently getting his face and hair soaked.

Nagisa didn't stop pulling there though. With another sharp tug, Nagisa easily pulled them into deeper water, where Rei's feet most certainly couldn't touch the ground.

"N-Nagisa!" He cried out, feeling panic go through him at the water surrounding him.

"Rei-chan," Nagisa said gently, giving Rei's hands a reassuring squeeze, "I won't let you go, okay? Trust me." Rei blinked at his slowly and nodded. It was then that he realized he wasn't even holding himself up in the water. It was all Nagisa. Up close, it became clear to him that the young blond was very well muscled. Nagisa gave him another bright smile, moving one hand of his hands from Rei's grasp to support his shoulders, "Come on, Rei-chan. I want to show you something."

Nagisa took Rei easily through the water away from the beach. Rei was no longer feeling the panic he had earlier and he found himself enjoying moving through the water, even if he wasn't doing any swimming. Just watching Nagisa move through the water was enough to convince him that there _was_ something beautiful about swimming.

Eventually, Nagisa reached the turn around the edge of a secluded cliff. Rei gave him a dubious look at the location that Nagisa only returned with a sweet smile. He took Rei around the edge of the cliff and into a secluded area, hollowed out by years of water running down and eroding the rock away to form a cave.

"The water is shallow here, Rei-chan," Nagisa said, slowly letting go of Rei to let the cobalt haired boy touch his feet to the wet sand in the shallow pool of water.

"Do you _live_ here?" Rei asked, looking around the cave before his eyes settled back on Nagisa.

"Yep!" Nagisa affirmed, giving a quick nod, "I found it a few months ago. You can sit on the sand over there if you don't want to stand in the water," he said, pointing deeper into the cave where there was a small strip of sandy ground. Rei accepted the suggestion and sat, his feet remaining in the water. There was a silence hanging in the air and, when Rei looked to Nagisa, the blond was staring up at him expectantly.

"Why are you so quiet, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked, cocking his head to the side, his wavy hair bouncing at the movement as it dried in the warm air of the cave, "you can ask me anything, you know," he said, "I don't mind." Rei opened his mouth and then closed it again. He wanted to ask Nagisa so many things. He had thought up dozens of questions to ask him through the week of not seeing him, so many that it had distracted him in class several times.

"I… Um," he stammered, "What exactly are you? Species wise?" He finally managed to ask. The question sounded absurd when he heard it out loud and he immediately felt embarrassed.

"That's a funny question," Nagisa giggled, turning in the water to float on his back, staring up at Rei upside down, "I guess you call us merpeople, right?"

"Right," Rei nodded, trying to pick another question to ask the excitable merman.

* * *

Over the next few days, Nagisa taught Rei how to swim, or he _tried_ at least. Rei quickly discovered that learning to swim from someone who was born knowing like Nagisa wasn't the easiest of tasks. Nagisa ended up half the time dissolving into giggles and laughter at Rei's attempts, but somehow he managed to teach Rei how to move his arms in the water and not sink immediately. Rei was appreciative that Nagisa didn't have to pull him through the water every time he went to see the blond after school or in his free time. There was a narrow strip of land along the cliff that led into Nagisa's secluded home, a very convenient route for someone not yet keen on swimming.

Nevertheless, Rei had spent hours studying up on how swimmers moved, and he was through denying himself the real reason he wanted to learn to swim

He knew he wanted to be closer to Nagisa. That was all there was to it.

"Ah, Rei-chan, I'm so tired," Nagisa groaned, floating again on his back in the cave. Rei was equally tired. They had spent the hours in the water after Rei was done with university for the day and, finally, Rei was getting a hang of the swimming with Nagisa's dismal coaching.

The single class Rei had taken on the ocean had become boring. He discovered what he wanted to know in the first place, and it wasn't like he would be sharing with _anyone_ about Nagisa. Miyu had been annoying him about his complacent participation in the class. He brushed off most of her attempts at communication about what had been on his mind. She didn't need or deserve to know about what had been going through his head. They were barely friends.

_Nagisa_ was his friend. Rei had found himself reflecting on their unconventional friendship during one early morning run. He came to the conclusion that Nagisa was truly his only, and closest, friend, and it warmed him to know what Nagisa cared about it.

"Hey, Nagisa?" Rei asked, coming back from his thoughts to hear his voice echoing in the cave, "This may seem out of nowhere," he mumbled, "why did you save me? And why did you go out of your way to befriend me? Were you just in the area or…" He trailed off, looking to Nagisa with expectant lavender eyes.

"I was lonely," Nagisa asked simply, his voice subdued from his usual loudness. He flipped in the water, spraying Rei with a bit of water as he moved forward to rest his arms on the sand, "We're really solitary, you know? Others like me," he tried to explain, "And we only have a few friends at most that we spend our lives with."

"Where are your friends?" Rei blurted our before he could stop himself, feeling embarrassed at how insensitive his question sounded.

"I never really had any luck with making friends," Nagisa answered with a small shrug, turning his coral gaze up to Rei. There was a sad look in his eyes; a look that Rei didn't think was becoming of the boy at all.

"So you… Just went off on your own?" Rei asked, his eyebrow turning up slightly, "Isn't that dangerous? Being alone in the ocean?" Nagisa gave another shrug, his fingers tracing swirls in the sand as he let Rei's questions sink it.

"There's a taboo against talking to humans," he finally said, "But I figured we're pretty much the same. I mean, you just have legs and live on land. That's the only difference I've seen at least. I guess it was sort of dangerous to just go off alone for so long, but I'm not scared of what's in the ocean," he explained, "and I'm not scared of humans either."

Rei smiled; the answer was so like Nagisa to say. Rei truly believed that blond was fearless, without a care in the world for things like anger or fear. "Why did you save me though?" He asked, reiterating his previous question.

"Well," Nagisa started, tapping his chin as he recalled details, "I was _really_ hungry so I went to find something to eat. And the storm came so I knew I should probably get back to shelter even though the waves weren't even scary yet. I had to swim around all those people and the boat in the water, but then I saw you, Rei-chan."

"And then?"

"You looked so weird in the water," Nagisa smiled, breaking into a fit of laughter before he continued, "And I thought it was really funny! But then you started sinking and I was really worried so I calmed you down and then I brought you to shore-"

"Calmed me down?" Rei asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Yep!" Nagisa nodded, "I couldn't have you all panicked that you were _dying_ or something," he said, giving Rei a teasing smile, "I don't know how, but merpeople can sort of calm down other sea life, and humans too I guess," he tried to describe, giving another short shrug, "I left you at shore after making sure you were breathing and not hurt, and then I found your glasses the next day when I was swimming! It was like _fate_, Rei-chan!" He gave Rei an impossibly bright smile, his tail slapping the water in his excitement.

"And you decided to torment me by not giving them back," Rei smirked, going to adjust his glasses before he remembered that he had swim goggles around his neck.

"Only because I knew you were special, Rei-chan!" Nagisa said in defense, giving Rei a pout.

"Well, anyway," Rei said, giving Nagisa a sincere smile, "I suppose I should thank you for saving me." At his words, a bright smile spread over Nagisa's face, his eyes wide and clearly pleased with Rei's gratitude.

"You don't have to thank me," Nagisa giggled, "It's not like I saved you because I wanted something from you…" He trailed off, looking at Rei with expectant eyes.

"What do you want, Nagisa?" Rei sighed, knowing the look well enough by now.

"Teach me about humans!" Nagisa said without restrain, "Please, Rei-chan?"

"Teach you about humans?" Rei echoed, "What do you mean?"

"Just _teach me_!" Nagisa stressed, "Like what you eat and what you do with your time and _everything_! I bet you're an expert," he smiled teasingly, "You _are_ human."

"Fine," Rei said, sighing but still smiling, "I'll _try_, okay?" Nagisa's smile was the biggest one yet.

* * *

"Seriously, Ryugazaki-kun! Why are you being so spacey?" It was another day at university about two weeks later. Rei was, once again, getting irritated at Miyu's constant inquiring as to what he was so occupied thinking about.

The past two weeks had gone by quickly for Rei. Spending time with Nagisa only seemed to make time go faster, and Rei found himself repeatedly disappoint when Nagisa told him it was getting late and that he should head home. He could tell that the blond was sad about him leaving every time too, but there was always the next day.

Truthfully, Rei would definitely have to say that whatever bond they had had grown. Nagisa, he discovered, was even more mischievous than he had originally thought. He was also very set on teasing Rei to a point that he would blush so profusely it looked like he had a fever. It was a good kind of flustered though, and, even if Nagisa had particularly got on his nerves one day, the blond would make up for it by telling Rei in a not-so-subtle way how much he meant to him. How could Rei possibly stay irritated with him?

"There you go again, Ryugazaki-kun!" Miyu's shrill whining broke through his thoughts, "You spaced out! Are you okay? Are you _sick_? Do you have some sort of attention problem?"

"No!" Rei said far louder than he had intended, "No, no I don't," he continued, his voice quieter, "I'm just thinking about… a friend?" He stammered slightly on the last bit, but it was believeable.

"A friend?" Miyu asked, suspicion lacing her tone before she gasped, "Is it your _girl_friend, Ryugazaki-kun? You have a girlfriend, don't you?"

"Well, I-"

"Say no more, Ryugazaki-kun!" Miyu cut him off excitedly, "Wow, any girl would be lucky to have you! Who is she? Does she attend university here? Is she cute?"

Thankfully for Rei, the bell for the end of class rang before he had a chance to attempt to avoid Miyu's questions. A breath of relief left him and he quickly left the classroom, ignoring Miyu's farewells behind him.

* * *

"… And, luckily for me, the bell rang before I had to answer her ridiculous questions." They were back in Nagisa's cave-home, with Rei just having recounted the encounter earlier in the day with Miyu. Nagisa had been hanging off his every word, his tail not even flicking slightly in the water as he usually did.

"_Do_ you have a girlfriend?" Nagisa blurted out without preamble, his eyes trained on Rei unmoving.

"No!" Rei nearly snapped. He was getting sick of that question, "I don't. And I don't want or need one for that matter. I mean, what's the point?" Nagisa's hard gaze softened slightly then. Rei could've sworn he had seen slight jealousy in his eyes before.

"Do you want a _boy_friend then, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked, dragging out the 'boy' in boyfriend, his tone the epitome of teasing and his mouth tugged into an easy smirk.

"Wh-what?" Rei sputtered, feeling heat rush to his cheeks, "I-I… I don't-"

"What if I was human, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked, cutting Rei off as he flipped onto his back in the water, "If I had legs instead of this," he said, gesturing to his tail, "could _I_ be your boyfriend?" Rei knew his face was probably ten shades more red than it should ever be. He didn't know what to say. Nagisa was asking a _completely_ ludicrous question, one he never thought he would be answering in his life.

"I… Um," he finally managed out, "Your… Your tail is very beautiful," he stammered, his cheeks flushing even more. He couldn't believe what he had just said. Sure, he had always thought since he first saw it that Nagisa's tail was extremely beautiful, but why did he have to go and say it out loud?

Nonetheless, his statement clearly pleased Nagisa. The blond's eyes had gone round and shining, his mouth hanging open slightly, as if Rei had just given him the best compliment anyone could receive. Well, it probably was considering.

"Do you mean that, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked, his voice uncharacteristically subdued. At a nod from Rei, Nagisa smiled sweetly, if not shyly, "Thank you, Rei-chan," he said quietly. The cave was quiet for a few moments, the near silence only interrupted by the soft sounds of water as Nagisa shifted slightly in the pool.

"Can you do that?" Rei asked into the silence, his eyes moving from where he had been looking at his hands to the blond's eyes, "Have legs I mean. Can you?" Nagisa gave a shrug, submerging himself in the water for a moment to rewet his drying hair.

"I _can_," he said once he came back up, "I've never tried, but I can get legs for a few days, I think." Rei looked unconvinced at Nagisa's lack of a definite answer.

"Let's go swim before you have to leave, Rei-chan," Nagisa said, offering a wet hand to Rei, a sweet smile on his face.

How could he refuse?

* * *

"Rei-chan! Rei-chan, you wouldn't believe what I heard today!" Rei had only just come into the cave for the afternoon but Nagisa was already excitedly talking away. "I was swimming where the boats are today – don't worry, I was being careful," he added, knowing the look Rei got on his face when he mentioned swimming at the pier, "And I heard some people talking about a festival! And the way they described it sounded so fun, Rei-chan!"

"Yes, there's a festival on Sunday and Monday," Rei affirmed, going to set his bag where Nagisa wouldn't splash it in his excitement, "And there's no university classes Monday either because of it."

"That's perfect then!" Nagisa gasped, cheering and falling back in the water with a splash.

"Perfect for what?"

"Perfect for you to take me to it!" Nagisa said once he had resurfaced, shaking drops of water from his blond curls, "Listen, listen, Rei-chan! I had a great idea!" He shushed Rei, knowing just by the look on his face that he was about to protest, "Remember yesterday? When he talked about legs and stuff? I could do that! I could do that and then you could get my clothing and shelter and then take me to the festival! Doesn't it sound perfect?"

"Nagisa," Rei started, sitting at the edge of the pool, his feet dipping into the water, "I don't know if that would be the best course of action," he said, the logical side to him coming out, "You've never done that before. And what makes you think the festival will be so great? I don't even think they're that fun."

"That's because you're no fun," Nagisa grumped, crossing his arms in front of him, "The way the people described it, it sounded amazing! They said there was lots of fish, and you know I _love_ fish, and games and lights on strings and 'fireworks' and people from all over wear long clothing and hold hands and I bet it's even better than it sounds!" Just by looking into the gleaming coral eyes before him, Rei knew there would be no denying Nagisa.

"If you're so determined-" Nagisa didn't even need to hear the rest, knowing what Rei would say. He gave a loud cheer and splashed the water enthusiastically.

"Come on, Rei-chan," he said once his initial excitement died down, extending his hand to Rei, "Let's go swim!"

* * *

**Notes: Okay so there's chapter 4! I sorta feel like this is kinda slow paced...? I dunno, I just like a lot of exposition and development in my stories. Chapter 5 will be posted soon!** **Stay turned and thank you for reading!**


	5. Chapter 5

It was early afternoon, and Rei still couldn't believe he was doing what he was doing. Across his shoulder, he had a backpack of clothes he hoped would fit Nagisa when he wasn't _scaly_ anymore. Rei believed the idea to be ridiculous. Yet every time he thought of _walking_ next to Nagisa, showing Nagisa new things, and spending time with Nagisa out of the water a spark of excitement went through him, and he knew he was secretly looking forward to the next few days.

Edging along the cliff side, Rei entered the cave only to have his face heat up as he quickly averted his gaze.

"Look, Rei-chan!" Nagisa exclaimed happily as soon as Rei walked in, "It worked! Look!" Nagisa's idea had certainly gone without a hitch, and now he was standing in front of Rei on the sand... stark naked.

"I-I'll look when you put some clothes on!" Rei sputtered, his cheeks aflame. He tossed the back over to Nagisa who was giggling madly at his red face. He kept his body turned away while Nagisa dressed, resisting the urge to laugh to himself when he heard some confused sounds coming from the honey blond as he tried to get dressed.

"Um, Rei-chan?" Nagisa called, "These don't fit," he said, greeting Rei with a pout when the cobalt haired teen finally turned back around. Oversized sleeves hid Nagisa's hands and the pants, while they fit width wise, were gathered at the ends around his ankles. Rei sighed and walked over. Nagisa was a lot shorter than he thought he would be, and Rei towered over him by several inches.

"Here," Rei offered, crouching to roll up the pants legs around Nagisa's ankles. Nagisa followed his lead and started to happily roll up the long sleeves.

"You're tall, Rei-chan," he commented.

"Maybe you're just short," Rei said, smirking down at the blond when he stood back up. Nagisa gave him another faux disgruntled look; his eyes were way too excited to truly show any real irritation. "Well, um... Let's go then," he said, feeling flustered again. He didn't know where the sudden awkwardness had come from, but he was sure it would pass. Nagisa had a looked of trepidation pass over his face, and Rei could've sworn the blond looked scared for a moment.

"O-okay," Nagisa affirmed, giving a hesitant nod. Rei felt himself smiling softly and extending his hand to Nagisa.

"I'll help you, okay?" He said, surprised at how gentle his voice sounded, "I made a promise, didn't I?" Nagisa's eyes widened and, after a few moments, a smile spread over his face. He reached and took Rei's hand, taking a few steps forward before he stumbled and let out a yelp, quickly turning away from the water he could potentially fall into on his unsteady feet. Rei caught him before he could fall into the sand.

"Ah, sorry, Rei-chan," Nagisa said, staring up at him with wide eyes, "Guess I'm a little unsteady."

"That's alright," Rei reassured, "I'll help you." He slowly unwound his arms from Nagisa, making sure the shorter boy was stable before he let his hand fall to his sides, "Can you not go back in the water?" He asked, having observed Nagisa's clear avoidance of the pool.

"Not in the ocean," Nagisa said, "Or else I'll turn back, and that'd be no fun," he pouted again, "Come on, Rei-chan! You have to take me places and teach me things!"

"Right, right, I know," Rei said, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose before he led Nagisa out.

* * *

Rei was surprised at how quickly Nagisa caught on to walking. After an hour or so, he was the one having to rush to keep track of Nagisa. He had taken the blond to a shopping mall, which seemed to be the best place the shorter boy had ever been too. Rei had to hold him back from constantly running off to look at various mundane things that any human would've cared less about.

Finally, after purchasing Nagisa some clothes that actually fit him, Rei convincing him to stop sight seeing to eat some lunch. Rei was starving; being around Nagisa used up _a lot_ of energy. Nagisa had insisted that they eat pizza after seeing several other people around with the food. Rei had reluctantly agreed. Pizza was greasy and fattening, and usually the track coach wouldn't let the members indulge in the food.

But what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him, right? Besides, Rei found himself doing whatever would make Nagisa happy without a second thought. As long as Nagisa was happy, he found that he was content.

"This has been the best day _ever_, Rei-chan!" Nagisa gushed once Rei had ordered them a pizza to share since Nagisa didn't exactly know what he wanted, "No one has ever done something like this for me," he continued, "That makes us best friends right?" One look into Nagisa's sparkling eyes and Rei was sold. He smiled and nodded, causing Nagisa to grin brightly.

"Yes, best friends," Rei nodded, feeling his cheeks heat up slightly. Nagisa cheered loudly, causing a few heads to turn in the restaurant but he didn't seem to notice or care for that matter.

When their pizza arrived, Rei had to hurry to even get two slices. After Nagisa tasted the cheesy food there was no stopping him. He consumed nearly half of the entire pizza, ignoring Rei's protests that he was eating too fast. Nagisa had never had anything like this. His entire life he'd eaten fish and fish and more fish. Humans were truly amazing to him if they could come up with something like pizza and not have any fish on it.

"Ah, Rei-chan," Nagisa sighed as they walked out of the mall, "That was so good. Can you bring me pizza every day?"

"E-every day?" Rei sputtered, "You liked it that much?"

"Yeah! It was the best thing I've ever eaten, Rei-chan!" Nagisa quipped excitedly.

"It's not that great of a food," Rei mumbled, "And it's certainly not the healthiest."

"Well how about this? You bring me tasty human food every day and you can eat raw fish!" Nagisa suggested, staring up at Rei with a devious look as they walked.

"Th-that's not necessary!" Rei said, shuddering at the thought of eating cold, slimy, untreated fish every day, "I'm sorry. I'll take you word for it." Nagisa smiled victoriously.

Though the train would've been faster, Rei didn't know how Nagisa would handle it so he decided to walk home. Nagisa certainly didn't mind. He talked the entire way home, commenting on the sunset and how nice the beach looked and how weird it was to be _dry _all the time. Rei found most of his comments amusing, but by the time they walked up the porch to his home, Nagisa's voice had exhausted him.

Early to bed would probably be the best of both of them, but Nagisa wouldn't have any of that. Rei showed him around his home, showed him the guest room and his room, and when Nagisa saw the television he absolutely insisted they watch something on it. Rei was so close to picking _The Little Mermaid_ for them to watch as a joke, but he decided on an action movie, which only riled up Nagisa even more.

It was a little before midnight when Rei's parents got home and Nagisa was finally winding down, yawning sleepily every few minutes or so. Rei had told his parents that he had a friend staying over for the weekend to go to the festival and his parents were more than happy to host Nagisa and make a comment about Rei's lack of company over.

When Rei finally got to bed, it was nearing one in the morning. He had bid good night to Nagisa and left him in the guest bedroom, but Rei couldn't make himself sleep. Any exhaustion he had felt earlier was gone and his mind was awake with thoughts of how the day went, how the rest of the weekend would go. Sighing, he turned over for what must've been the hundredth time and stared at the ceiling of his darkened room. His eyes went to the door immediately when he saw it opening slightly. He couldn't see in the dark, the scene blurry with his glasses missing from the bridge of his nose.

"Rei-chan? Are you asleep?" Nagisa voice came from the door, quiet in the darkness of the room.

"No," Rei answered back, sitting up in bed, "I couldn't get to sleep." Nagisa tiptoed into the room, closing the door quietly and standing where Rei could see him. He was wearing the over-sized t-shirt Rei had lent him and pajama shorts, which were nearly hidden by the shirt. "What's wrong?" Rei asked, noticing how the blond was fidgeting and staring at his feet.

"I... Can I sleep with you, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked, lifting his gaze to meet Rei's, his eyes pleading, "I don't want to sleep alone if I don't have to." Rei blinked in surprise at the request.

And then it dawned on him that Nagisa spent _every_ night alone, and all day aside from when they were swimming together. The thoughts sent a wave of sympathy through him and he gave Nagisa a gentle smile in the dark.

"Alright. Come on," he said softly, pulling back the blankets. Nagisa's eyes went wide before he smiled, bounced a bit on his feet anticipation, and padded over. He quickly made himself at home in Rei's bed, curling up slightly under the warm blankets and snuggling into Rei's side. Rei felt himself growing flustered at the closeness. Nagisa's head was pressed to his chest, tucked under his chin, and the blond had managed to wrap an arm around Rei's side.

There wasn't much time to protest either; Nagisa was asleep in mere minutes. Rei looked down at him against his chest for a moment, watching him breathe evenly through slightly parted lips. Rei smiled to himself and let his own eyes slip shut, finally feeling as if he could sleep.

"Good night, Nagisa."

* * *

Rei blearily opened his eyes the next morning and, if the sunlight streaming through the window was any indication, it was far later than when he typically woke up. He blinked a few times, clearing his sleep-blurred eyes. Only after that did it remember Nagisa had spent the night in his bed. He looked down to see the blond still cuddled against his chest with his arms wrapped tightly around Rei. He was still sleeping soundly and Rei found himself captivated by the serene look in Nagisa's face.

It was late, but Rei knew he still need to go for his morning run. Without waking him, Rei managed to slip out of Nagisa's hold and get ready to go out. He was almost out the door when he heard footsteps on the stairs behind him and he turned to see Nagisa following after him, rubbing sleepily at his eyes. Rei had to resist laughing at the state of Nagisa's hair, the blond waves mussed and sticking up in odd positions.

"Where are you going, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked, his voice still slightly rough from sleep.

"For my run," Rei answered, "You should go back to sleep if you're tired." At Rei's words, all signs of tiredness were gone from Nagisa's face and he bounced eagerly on the balls of his feet.

"A run? Can I come, Rei-chan? Please?" Rei sighed, knowing just by looking at the sheer anticipation on Nagisa's face that he couldn't say no.

"If you can keep up," he said, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"Of course I can! Wait here, Rei-chan! I'll get dressed!" Nagisa bolted back up the stairs. Rei waited several minutes before the blond reappeared and they left together.

Surprising to Rei, Nagisa was able to keep up with him very well. Rei had to once more remind himself not to underestimate Nagisa's strength. The blond lived in water, which had twelve times the resistance that air did. Not to mention the density of water was about one thousand times greater than air, and Nagisa moved in water like it was nothing.

"What are you thinking about, Rei-chan? You look so pensive," Nagisa said, his voice breaking into Rei's thoughts.

"Nothing important," Rei said, shaking his head to clear his thoughts.

"You always say that, Rei-chan," Nagisa huffed, "You get this brooding look and then never say _why_."

"It really was nothing this time," Rei said sheepishly.

"Okay, if you say so, Rei-chan," Nagisa sighed dramatically, "But next time, tell me, okay? Promise?"

"Fine, fine. I promise to tell you next time," Rei sighed, "If we can finish running in silence." Nagisa nodded in agreement and actually managed to keep quiet for the rest of the time.

* * *

There was no chance of quieting Nagisa as the night approached. The festival was a few train stops away and Nagisa was the most excited that Rei had ever seen him. They both wore yukata, Nagisa's being pink with patterns of other colors and Rei's a deep violet. Rei had tried to talk him out of wearing such a girly color but Nagisa insisted that it was his favorite color and that he wanted to wear it.

Once he understood the concept of the train, Nagisa made himself busy by either talking to Rei or chatting with other people on the train, most of them girls in their own yukata. By the end of the ride, Rei was getting sick of hearing high-pitched giggles coming from the girls Nagisa seemed to have no problem wooing with his cute atmosphere.

Rei had stopped admonishing himself for calling Nagisa cute in his head a while ago. He had come to accept that the perfect describing word for the boy was cute whether he was male or not.

"Nagisa, we're here," Rei said, nudging Nagisa and adjusting his glasses as the train doors opened. Nagisa let out a cheer and grabbed Rei's hand, practically tugging him from the train.

"Oh wow, Rei-chan," Nagisa breathed, his eyes spotting the hanging lanterns in strings laced across the festival area and the brightly lit festival booths. Rei smiled softly and tugged at Nagisa's hand.

"Come on. Let's go," he said, "Don't run off though, okay? It's easy to get split up." Nagisa nodded seriously, tightening his hold on Rei's hand.

"Right! You can't run off either though, Rei-chan," he giggled before they walked over to the booths.

Rei was never one for festivals. They were loud, bright, crowded, and myriad other things that displeased him, but with Nagisa at his side everything was different. The bright lights didn't seen too bright, and the loud chatter of the other people around them was drowned out by Nagisa's constant words. Rei found himself actually _enjoying_ himself.

The first thing Rei insisted that Nagisa tried was the fried squid. Nagisa was hesitant, telling Rei he didn't want any more fish, but when he tasted the _cooked_ fish Rei didn't miss how his eyes lit up.

"This is the best fish I've ever tasted, Rei-chan!" Nagisa said for the umpteenth time as they continued walking through the area, "Oh! What's that game? Can we play?" Rei followed Nagisa's pointing to a game booth where several children were trying to get plastics balls into the tops of glass bottles to win the stuffed toy prizes hanging.

"That game is child's play," Rei said loftily, adjusting his glasses, "We shouldn't waste time on that."

"Please, Rei-chan? Please? I really want the penguin one!" He begged, pointing to a stuffed penguin hanging in the prize section. Rei sighed, his eyes meeting Nagisa's sparkling orbs and, once again, he couldn't say no.

The game was, as Rei said, child's play for the cobalt haired teen. Nagisa watched mesmerized at Rei easily got the plastic balls into the designated bottles and his eyes followed the penguin with rapt focus when the booth attendant handed Rei the stuffed toy.

"Thank you, Rei-chan!" Nagisa exclaimed loudly, squeezing the penguin against his side tightly, "Penguins are my favorite! So cute!" He giggled, "I'm going to name it... Rei-chan the penguin!"

"Wh-what?!" Rei sputtered, "Why name it after me? That's silly."

"I don't have anyone else to name it after," Nagisa shrugged, "Here, Rei-chan. Hold my penguin and I'll win you something too!" Rei fumbled with the stuffed animal as it was shoved into his arms and Nagisa went to the booth. Intrigued, Rei watched him play. Just by watching once, Nagisa had grasped the game pretty quickly, and it only took him a few minutes to win.

"Rei-chan! Look what I won for you," Nagisa giggled mischievously, walking back over to Rei and thrusting a stuffed butterfly at him.

"A butterfly?" Rei stammered.

"Yep! Don't lie, Rei-chan. I know you love butterflies." Nagisa slipped the penguin back out of Rei's hands and handed him the butterfly, "You had them on your pajamas." Rei blushed and looked to the side in embarrassment, which only caused Nagisa to laugh. He jumped slightly when he felt Nagisa's hand slip back into his grip. He looked down to see Nagisa smiling up at him. "Let's go Rei-chan! There's so much more to look at!"

Nagisa was quickly drawn to the goldfish booth and he crouched next to the tub holding the fish, his penguin toy hugged against his chest, "Why are there fish here, Rei-chan?"

"It's a game. You try and scoop as many goldfish as you can," Rei said, standing next to him, his eyes following the swimming fish. Nagisa reached out a dipped his fingers into the water and almost immediately, as of some sort of _spell_ came over them, the fish quickly all surged for his fingers. Nagisa giggled when some of the fish mouthed at his fingers.

"Hey! If you're not going to play, then get away from the pool!" the man running the booth snapped. Nagisa quickly withdrew his hand from the water and stood, backing away. Rei gave the disgruntled man a quick apology before he followed after Nagisa.

"That was so mean! To keep fish captive like that," Nagisa pouted, watching his sandaled feet as they walked away from the booth, "How could people just keep poor fish like that?" He looked up to Rei for answers.

"Well, it's just what humans do," he managed to formulate, not really knowing what to say. What could he say? Let's go back and free all those fish? Somehow he figured that wouldn't be the best course of action.

"Hey, Rei-chan," Nagisa said, tugging on his sleeve, "Someone over there is waving at you. Do you know her?" Rei looked up and inwardly groaned at the sight of Miyu and several of her friends grouped around the candied apples booth. The older girl came over quickly, dressed in a flower yukata, her hair in an up do held with various clips.

"Hi Ryugazaki-kun! I didn't know you were coming to the festival! You told me you weren't a fan of them," Miyu said cheerfully before she noticed Nagisa, "Oh, are you one of Ryugazaki-kun's friends?"

"Yep!" Nagisa nodded, "Rei-chan only came to the festival because I asked him to take me."

"I see," Miyu said, a slightly suspicious look on her face, "Do you go to school with us?"

"N-Nagisa lives in Toyko with his parents," Rei quickly cut in, knowing Nagisa wouldn't have a clue how to answer, "He goes to university there." Miyu nodded, shifting her gaze back to Nagisa.

"Where did you two meet then? If you live so far away?"

"At the beach!" Nagisa said happily, "I was there on vacation."

"But, Ryugazaki-kun, you told me you couldn't swim," Miyu said, raising an eyebrow at Rei.

"I taught him of course," Nagisa said and, sensing that Rei was growing increasingly uncomfortable, he linked his arm with Rei, "Rei-chan is my best friend, and I'm Rei-chan's best friend," he stated, his tone possessive. Miyu blinked at him for a moment, trying to decide how to respond to that.

"Well, I'll see you at school, Ryugazaki-kun," she said and quickly went back over to her friends. Nagisa smiled up at Rei when they were gone.

"She's annoying," he stated boldly, "And I can tell you don't like her, Rei-chan."

"I... I don't _dislike_ her," Rei said, adjusting his glasses sheepishly, "I just don't like her constant prying." Nagisa giggled and gave him a knowing look before he looked up quickly at the bang of a firework going off.

"Rei-chan! The fireworks are starting! We have to go!" He said urgently, grasping Rei's hand and taking off into a run up the row of booths until they reached the open area for viewing the fireworks.

Rei found himself for mesmerized by the look of pure wonder on Nagisa's face rather than the actual fireworks. The blond's head was tipped back slightly, his eyes wide and reflecting the sparkling lights of the fireworks.

_Beautiful_.

And Rei knew he wasn't thinking of the fireworks. He pulled his eyes away from Nagisa's face and looked up towards the sky too, smiling at the bright lights of the fireworks exploding in the sky. When he looked back to Nagisa a few minutes later, Nagisa's eyes were trained on a couple who were locking in a heated kiss, as many of the twosomes who came to the festival were.

"Rei-chan," Nagisa said, turning to him, "Will you do that with me?" He asked, pointing towards the couple. Rei felt his face heat up and he pushed Nagisa's hand down hastily before the people noticed his pointing.

"N-no, Nagisa," he sighed exasperatedly, "Only couples do that." Nagisa shrugged and turned his eyes back to the sky as if the question had never happened.

But Rei was still flustered. Why would Nagisa ask that? Rei knew that the blond couldn't be _entirely_ innocent on the intimacies of people, or merpeople for that matter. Rei had quickly caught on that Nagisa had a mischievous side to him that he frequented, and he knew Nagisa had some sort of deeper meaning to his question.

Rei had to force himself to stop elaborating on his thoughts and pay attention back to the night sky. He didn't need to be thinking anything like that now. The festival was supposed to be fun and carefree, and for the last few moments, Rei was determined to keep it that way.

* * *

Nagisa hadn't even asked when he burrowed into Rei's blankets that night when they got home. It was well past midnight when they finally reached Rei's home and both of them were exhausted. Not many words were exchanged as they prepared for bed; mostly they just got ready in calm silence.

"Hey, Rei-chan," Nagisa said softly into the dark when he was once again cuddled into Rei's side, "I know I already said it... But, _thank you_ for this. For everything. It was more than I ever dreamed of, Rei-chan." He looked up, connecting gazes with Rei, "It was the best night ever. So thank you." Rei didn't know what to say. His chest felt tight and his cheeks were red at the sincerity in Nagisa's voice.

And then Nagisa was moving up slightly. And his lips were pressed against Rei's Rei froze; Nagisa was _kissing_ him. Like he had asked for at the festival. Rei remained motionless against Nagisa's lips; he didn't even move when Nagisa's fingers slightly brushed his cheek. His mind was trying to comprehend what it could mean while trying not to get completely consumed by the desire to kiss back.

Just as he decided to abandon his composure and press his lips back onto Nagisa's, the blond moved back, his fingers sliding away from his face. Nagisa gave him a gentle smile.

"Good night, Rei-chan," he murmured before resumed his snuggled position against Rei's chest. He was asleep in minutes once more but Rei was wide-awake, and he remained so for quite a while after.

* * *

**Notes**

Now with 100% more kISSING.

Okey so there's chapter 5. Chapter 6 is on the way! Hopefully it won't take as long as this one did!

Reviews and comments are much appreciated!

Thank you so much for reading and stay tuned 3


	6. Chapter 6

It was early when Rei awoke the next morning, too early for even his internal clock, especially with the time he had gone to bed after the festival. He groaned softly, the pale sunlight streaming through the gaps in his window blinds not even bright enough to make him squint. The question was: why was he even awake?

The bed was overly hot. The blankets and sheets were twisted around him from where he had moved them in discomfort during the night, which was peculiar as Rei was always a sound sleeper.

_Nagisa_.

It dawned on him through his sleep-clogged mind and he sat up quickly in bed, turning to the blond still asleep next to him. He gently pushed Nagisa onto his back and pressed his palm to the blond's forehead. His eyes widened at the excessive amount of heat radiating from burning skin. Rei slid his hand down to Nagisa's cheek, feeling dry, hot skin under his palm.

Nagisa lived in the water. Nagisa was _one_ with the water. Rei knew what dehydration looked like from intense track practice when his teammates had started showing signs, but the fever wasn't part of it. Nagisa was sick. A creature of water was dehydrated. Rei felt himself starting to panic slightly.

"Nagisa," he said urgently, shaking the blond's shoulder, "Nagisa! Wake up... Nagisa!" He gripped both of his shoulders, shaking harder in hopes of rousing him. He needed to wake up. Rei needed him to wake up, to make him better. Rei didn't know if he _could_ make him better. He'd never helped anyone who was sick. He'd never had the opportunity with being an only child.

Nagisa finally groaned softly and Rei ceased his shaking, watching Nagisa's eyes scrunch up slightly as he tried to force them open.

"Nn... Rei-chan?" Nagisa mumbled tiredly, his eyes half-open and dull with exhaustion, "What're you doing? 'M tired. Head hurts."

"Nagisa, you have to stay awake, okay? Listen to me, _stay awake_," Rei said urgently, giving Nagisa another shake when his eyes started to slip shut, "You're dehydrated, Nagisa. Do you understand?" Nagisa shook his head, groaning softly at the movement, "We need to get you back to the beach alright? Stay awake for me," Rei said firmly, pulling Nagisa into a sitting position on the bed propped against several pillows.

Rei was in a hurry after. He quickly changed his clothes, putting on his swimsuit underneath one of his tracksuits. He grabbed a bag and practically emptied his medicine cabinet of fever medication and anything else that may help Nagisa get better. He grabbed a few bottles of water, zipped the bag, and slung it over his shoulder, heading back into the bedroom.

Nagisa's eyes had closed again, but his breathing wasn't steady, signaling to Rei that he was still awake.

"Nagisa?" He said gently, placing a hand on Nagisa's shoulder, "We need to go, okay? Think you can walk?" Nagisa forced his eyes open again and shook his head weakly.

"S-sorry, Rei-chan," he mumbled, reaching for Rei's hand. Rei smiled gently and squeezed his hand tight for reassurance.

"Don't apologize. This isn't your fault." Rei looked over Nagisa for a moment, trying to figure the best way to go him to the beach. He decided, must to his chagrin, that carrying him bridal style would be easiest. Forcing back the blush rising to his cheeks again, Rei, as smoothly as he could, lifted Nagisa into his arms. The blond wasn't as light as Rei had thought, but he wasn't heavy either, and he seemed to fit almost snuggly into Rei's arms. Nagisa's fingers immediately went to dig into Rei's jacket, squeezing his eyes shut against the pain in his head. Casting a last look down at Nagisa in his arms, Rei swallowed the lump in his throat and left home in a brisk walk.

* * *

Rei reached the cave more quickly than he expected. Blood was pounding in his ears and his arms were burning with the strain of carrying Nagisa so far. But none of it mattered. The only thing that mattered was the ailing boy in his arms. He didn't bother with gripping about the sand and the water splashing onto his running shoes as he rounded the cliff and ducked into the cave.

Toeing off his shoes, he didn't hesitate in carrying Nagisa into the pool of cool, ocean water. He didn't even care about soaking his tracksuit as he submerged Nagisa in the water aside from his head. Nagisa let out a shiver and a gasp at the water flooding over his body and he gripped Rei's shirt tighter.

"R-Rei-chan, I... I don't want to change back," he whimpered, "Please, don't make me... _Please_, Rei-chan." He stared up at Rei, his fever-dull eyes watery and begging. Rei felt something ache deep in his chest at the desperation in Nagisa's voice.

"You're sick, Nagisa," Rei said slowly, "You have to get better, okay? I think this would be the only way for someone like you."

"But... But I," Nagisa protested, shaking slightly in Rei's arms, "I want to be like Rei-chan. Spend _all _my time with _you_, Rei-chan. I can't do that any other way. Please don't make me," he begged. Rei stared down at him, his wide eyes connected with Nagisa's distressed orbs. He didn't think he'd ever seen the blond like this, weak and desperate and _scared_.

"Nagisa," Rei said firmly, squeezing Nagisa's hand tightly in his own, "I won't leave you... _ever_," he said, punctuated each word, "You don't have to be _human_ for me to want to spend time with you. I'd take you over a human any day, understand?" Nagisa's mouthed opened to say something, but no words came out. He nodded, giving Rei's hand a squeeze back, a content smile gracing his lips.

"Please take my clothes off, Rei-chan."

"Wh-what?!" Rei sputtered, his stoic face immediately heating up.

"I can't turn back if you don't and I-" Nagisa stopped talking to wince in pain, pressing his lips together and squeezing his eyes shut. It took a lot of energy to hold back the regrowth, energy the shorter boy didn't have to spare at the moment, and it was starting to hurt.

Seeing that he was in pain, and swallowing his pride, Rei undressed Nagisa as swiftly as he could, averting his gaze when the blond was naked in the water.

Nagisa tensed in Rei's arms, letting out a shaky gasp. Rei resisted wincing when Nagisa gripped him tightly and he looked down to Nagisa's face blanching in pain. He couldn't help but to look at Nagisa's lower body and, to his surprise, a nearly opaque membrane had already covered the legs Nagisa previously donned, taking the shape of his tail.

"Promise to... t-to take care of me, Rei-chan?" Nagisa gasped, forcing his eyes to open to look up at Rei. The amount of pain visible in his eyes shocked Rei. He had never seen _anyone_ in that kind of discomfort. He realized then how hard Nagisa was shaking in his arms and how his body still felt too hot.

"I promise," Rei murmured, clutching Nagisa closer. Nagisa smiled up at him weakly before his eyes slipped shut and he went limp in Rei's arms.

Rei couldn't help but feel the panic once again rush through him when Nagisa's eyes closed and his went completely still. He could feel a heart beat, see the blond's chest rise and fall, but something about Nagisa's eyes being closed, a smile not on his face, chilled Rei to the bone.

Casting his gaze back to the reforming appendage starting at Nagisa's hips, Rei was once more stunned to see how fast the regeneration was progressing. The skin at his hips was already the shimmery pale pink it usually was, covered in soft clear scales that were already starting to harden into the vibrant coral color and take on the gold-green shine they acquired when hit by sunlight.

The sight was breathtakingly beautiful and Rei suddenly realized how much he had missed seeing Nagisa's tail in the past few days. The appendage was simply becoming of him; it made the blond look more alive. The colors of his tail, his skin, his hair, and _especially_ his eyes, everything together made Nagisa the vision of beauty in Rei's eyes, though he would never admit it out loud.

Rei watched as long veins spread through the growing tail, creating a network of pale blue lines that stretched down to where the wide fin was growing and already coloring itself a soft fuchsia.

The process took about an hour on Rei's watch but eventually all the scales were back in order, arranged in hard, protective lines. It wasn't over yet in Rei's mind though. Nagisa was still ailing, his cheeks flushed more than before as his breath came in soft pants from the regeneration process.

"Nagisa... Nagisa, wake up," Rei said, shaking him, his wet palm gently patting Nagisa's cheek in attempt to rouse him. Thankfully, his coral eyes opened much faster than before and Rei couldn't help the small smile that came over his face, "How are you feeling?"

"Hot, and head still hurts," Nagisa mumbled tiredly, pressing his face against Rei's arms, which felt cool against his overly warm cheeks.

"Hang on." Rei shifted slightly, reaching behind onto the sand for the bag he had brought and dragged it to the edge of the pool. He brought out one of the bottles of water, uncapped it, and pressed it against Nagisa's lips, "Here. Drink," he murmured. He tilted the bottle when Nagisa's lips parted. As soon as the water poured into his mouth, Nagisa's eyes widened and he grabbed the bottle from Rei, realizing how thirsty he was. Rei watched, eyes wide, as the bottle was drained in less than a minute. Panting softly, Nagisa handed the empty bottle back to Rei, wiping the water that had trickled down his chin.

"Better?" Rei chuckled lightly, reaching into the bag for another bottle and the pill containers, "These will make your head stop hurting," he said popping the top of the bottle and shaking out two pills. He uncapped the second bottle of water and helped Nagisa swallow the pills down, noticing the grimace of discomfort that passed over his face at the sensation.

After giving Nagisa the pills for fever as well, he held the blond in his lap in comfortable silence, helping tip water down his throat when he requested it. Despite the entire situation, Rei found it relaxing to just hold Nagisa and help him get better.

"Rei-chan? I'm hungry," Nagisa said after about two hours, his voice rough from disuse.

"It is about lunch time," Rei acknowledged, flicking his wrist to check the time on his watch, "What do you usually eat?" He asked even though he knew the answer: fish.

"Well um... Could you maybe," Nagisa mumbled shyly, fidgeting slightly, "Could you get me the squid we had yesterday?" He finally asked, looking up at Rei, his eyes considerably brighter and his cheeks less reddened with fever. Rei couldn't help but to smile at his enthusiasm; it was like Nagisa was getting back to normal already.

"Alright, if you can be alone for the time it'll take me to get it," Rei said cautiously and Nagisa eagerly nodded.

"I'll be fine for a little while," he said, his eyes wide at the prospect, "You're the best, Rei-chan!" Rei smiled and shifted slightly, gingerly sliding Nagisa off his lap and into the water. Nagisa shuddered and then sighed softly, submerging himself in the water.

Rei quickly stripped off his soggy tracksuit in exchange for the change of clothes he had in his bag. He toweled off the dampness of his swimsuit the best he could before he changed.

"I'll be back s-" He cut himself off when he looked at the water. Nagisa had sunk himself to the bottom, his eyes closed peacefully and his head slumped slightly to the side in sleep. Rei smiled again, shaking his head slightly to himself as he left. He never thought that he'd see someone sleeping underwater, but there was a first time for everything.

* * *

"Two orders of the friend squid please."

In the end, Rei caved and ordered himself a portion of the greasy fish. He couldn't let Nagisa eat by himself after all, or at least that was what he told himself. The day had been tiring, and it was only a little past noon, but at least Nagisa was starting to look better. Still, Rei couldn't help but get an antsy feeling and he found himself anxious to get back as soon as possible.

It was just his luck when several members of the track team and other students came into the restaurant too and immediately recognized him. After being roped into a conversation that lasted far too long for Rei's liking, he grabbed his paper wrapped fish and left quickly, saying he had a friend to get back to, which, of course, prompted the others to insinuate that he had a _girl_friend.

Honestly, Rei didn't know _where_ people came up with this stuff. He made his way back gingerly, already starting to feel the ache in his arms from carrying Nagisa earlier. He would definitely be sore for track practice the next day, but it was worth it.

"Nagisa?" He called when he came back in, his eyes going to the water. Nagisa was right where Rei had left him, fast asleep underwater. Rei set down their lunch, stripped his clothes off so that he was in his swimsuit, and carefully slid into the water. He pushed himself down about a meter to where Nagisa was sleeping and slid his arms under the blond, pulling them both up to the surface.

Nagisa's tail felt odd on his skin; the scales were smooth yet sharp in some places, and just thinking about it while Nagisa was sleeping and unsuspecting made him feel a bit guilty.

Rei sat back where he was before, his waist and below submerged in the water and Nagisa on his lap. He didn't even have to rouse the other boy this time. Nagisa's eyes opened blearily but immediately turned bright and expecting when he smelled fish.

"Rei-chan!" He said excitedly, wrapping his arms around Rei tightly, "Thank you for bringing me fish, Rei-chan! You're the best." When he gave Rei a signature brilliant smile that had been missing from his face all day, Rei felt heat rush to his cheeks. He quickly turned away to bring the fish closer and to hide his reddened cheeks.

They ate in another bout of calming silence. Rei observed that Nagisa was already looking better. His cheeks weren't as flushed and, when asked about his head, the blond informed him that the pain was nearly gone. It was a huge relief for Rei. He hadn't realized it until then, but he'd been tense all day, ever since he woke up.

"Hey, Rei-chan?" Nagisa spoke up once they had both finish their fish and Nagisa was drinking water again, "It was worth it, right? Coming out of the water? Even if I got sick... You think it was worth it, don't you?" Rei opened his mouth to answer and then shut it again, taking a moment to think about his words and not just blurt anything out.

"It was worth it... Of course it was," Rei finally said, giving Nagisa a smile, "Truthfully, that was the most fun I've had at a festival since I was a child, and even then they weren't that fun for me."

"Really?" Nagisa gasped, his eyes going wide in delight, "I... I'm happy I could make you happy, Rei-chan. I meant it, when I said it was the best thing anyone has ever done for me, and you're my best friend, Rei-chan. _Anyone_ would be lucky to have a friend like you."

The increasingly familiar flustered feeling came over Rei and his cheeks heated up again. For some reason, his mind flashed back to the previous night, Nagisa's soft lips on his own, the pads of his fingers brushing of his cheek, the _desire_ he had to pressed his lips back.

He knew he had wanted to then.

He knew he had wanted to pulled Nagisa close and melt into him, but his mind was clouded with why and what it could mean. He felt none of that hesitation anymore and he found himself desperate for a chance to do what he was to stupid to do before.

"Rei-chan? What're you thinking about? You promised to tell me remember," Nagisa said, giving Rei a slight pout.

Actions speak louder than words, right?

So was that the reason Rei had leaning down a bit, cupped Nagisa's cheek, and kissed him? Probably not, but he could think that if he wanted to.

Nagisa's lips were as soft as before and Rei realized he had no idea what he was doing. Then again, he doubted Nagisa did either so he didn't pull away.

Almost immediately, Nagisa had kissed him back, leaning into both Rei's hand cupping his cheek and the press of their lips together. Rei felt Nagisa's strong arms come up to wrap around his neck to prevent him from pulling away, not that he had any intention to. Rei didn't think he could describe the feeling in words if he tried. The touch of Nagisa's lips was intoxicating. His fingers threading in Rei's hair were playful yet calming and he felt Nagisa smile against his mouth.

The kiss ended on neutral terms, both of them out of breath. Rei looked down at Nagisa. The blond's cheeks were dusted with pink and Rei knew, even with the remnants of the heat from his fever, _he_ had finally made _Nagisa_ blush. His eyes were sparkling slightly, a small smile on his lips and he gazed up at Rei dreamily.

The silence continued until Rei felt awkward. Nagisa had just been staring up at him with the most adoring eyes and, though Rei was flattered, he was flustered too.

"Um... Nagisa," he started, resisting the urge to look away, "What... What does this make us now?" Rei mentally slapped his forehead; the question had sounded fine in his head but incredibly awkward out loud.

"Best friends of course," Nagisa piped without a second thought, "Best friends who kiss a lot!"

Rei couldn't help but to laugh.

* * *

Notes: I thought this would be longer but then it wasn't... Oh well, I think this is good enough for what I intended for this chapter. Due to school, chapters will most likely be posted Friday, Saturday, or Sunday. Comments are always appreciated! Thank you and stay tuned~ 3


	7. Chapter 7

Several weeks passed without a hitch and summer hit with full force. Rei found himself spending long hours with Nagisa in the water. The blond had never mention walking again and seemed to be entirely content in staying in the water with Rei all the time.

Their relationship wasn't discussed anymore either. Nagisa initiated nearly every display of affection. He knew Rei was shy and bashful when it came to things like that, and he told Rei he was more than happy to kiss him or hug him anytime. Lately, Rei had found himself thinking of Nagisa as his boyfriend on accident. After the thought his face would flush and he would have to make some excuse as to why he got all flustered when he was in public.

He couldn't deny how much he liked it when Nagisa's lips were pressed again his, when he was holding Nagisa's hand or when his arms were wrapped around the bubbly blonde. It made him feel calm and happy, and he didn't miss the way Nagisa's eyes would light up almost impossibly bright when they were together. It made something in his chest feel warm and _whole_.

* * *

"You should probably avoid the beach and the pier, Nagisa... Hey, Nagisa! Are you listening?" Nagisa's head surfaced from under the water and he gave Rei a small cheeky smile before he flipped his hair to the sides, shaking water from his blond curls.

"Nope!" he answered happily, flipping onto his back in the water, effectively spraying Rei, who had been drying off. Rei gave him a disgruntled look, toweling off the new water from his arms. The sky was nearly dark and Rei knew he had stayed too long if he wanted to get a lot of school work done, but, then again, spending time with Nagisa was more important.

"I said," he sighed, "I want you to try and stay away from the beach and the pier, alright?" He asked, his voice softening, "The summer brings out a lot more people around here, at both places." Nagisa nodded slowly, his smile fading a little to a solemn look.

"Okay, Rei-chan," he said, nodding determinedly, "I'll try my best for you, Rei-chan!" Rei smiled, which prompted Nagisa to grin again. Rei put his clothes back on over his swimsuit and crouched at the edge of the pool. Nagisa extended a wet hand in his direction and Rei took it, threading their fingers together. Nagisa gave him a soft smile and squeezed his hand before letting go and floating back a little ways in the water, waving happily as Rei left.

* * *

A soft sigh left Nagisa's throat as he lay on his back in the water, idly floating. Rei hadn't come to see him in a few days and he couldn't fight the lonely feeling gnawing at his heat. Rei had school, extended track practice and homework to boot, and Nagisa knew he couldn't blame Rei for that.

Sighing again, Nagisa plunged under the water and swam out into the ocean, his tail moving in powerful motions to propel him through the water.

He hadn't been hunting in a long time, not since he came to the area. The fishermen's boats always had nets full of fish that he could easily take from, and that staved off the guilt he felt when he had to kill anything. But not Rei had asked him to be careful, to stay away from the boats and the people at the beach. Nagisa understood his worries and easily agreed, but he didn't realize that it would be so difficult to adjust back.

"Rei-chan, will you bring me food?" Rei had only just walked into the cave a Thursday afternoon when the question was spring on him.

"Um... Sure? I-I guess," Rei responded, getting flustered at the abruptness of the question, "Why are you asking? Is something wrong?"

"No! No, nothing's wrong, Rei-chan!" Nagisa said hurriedly, "I promise. Nothing's wrong it's just... I don't," he paused, sighing softly his hands patting the water contemplatively, "I don't like catching my own food," he mumbled. Rei was quiet as he stripped off his tracksuit into his swimsuit and stepped into the water.

"I'm sorry," Rei said softly, shivering when the water lapped the skin of his abdomen, "I'm sorry if I haven't been here a lot lately with school any everything. Please, forgive me?" Nagisa blinked, looking slightly confused before he moved forward and looped his arms around Rei's waist, pulling him close.

"I'm not mad at you, Rei-chan," he said, "Okay? I could never be mad at you. It's not your fault you have so many obligations, Rei-chan. Don't say sorry when you've done nothing." Rei stared down at him for a few moments before he nodded and wrapped his arms around Nagisa too.

"I know. I know," he murmured, "I just feel a little guilty."

"Okay. Well, you can make it up to me if you feel guilty by bringing me food! Can you, please, Rei-chan?" Rei smiled and nodded, chuckling softly.

"Alright, yes. I can do that. Tomorrow, Friday, I'll bring you something."

"Yay!" Nagisa cheered, squeezing Rei into a tight hug, "Let's go swim now!"

* * *

Once again, Nagisa was out at night, his eyes scanning the darkened ocean. Waiting until the next afternoon for Rei to bring him food wasn't staving off his hunger one bit. He needed something, even if it was small.

Still scanning the water, his eyes focused on a decently sized fish swimming nearby. He swam towards it from the side, making sure to be even quieter than usual. Suddenly, the fish darted to the left and then to the right before it took off. Nagisa sped after it, water whipping through his hair. The fish rounded a rock and Nagisa went around the opposite side, knowing he could cut it off. There was no way some silly fish was faster than-

Something slammed into him _hard_. Actually, it was more like he _crashed_. Blinking to clear his head, Nagisa looked around. Silver meshing was surrounding him, enclosing him in a net. Panic shot through him as he stared around himself at the net. He felt his heart beat pick up and suddenly he felt scared, and small, and _trapped_.

He grabbed the mesh and shook it desperately, his eyes not staying on more than one place for more than a second in his panicked state. He backed up slightly before he swam forward as fast as he could with the confined space he was in and pushed against the net. He tried again, forcing his body against the webbing.

A peculiar feeling went through him and he gasped, air bubbling from his throat when he did. Electricity shot through him, transferred from the net into his body. He felt his back arching, his arms stiffening and clenching against the pulse. It felt like his entire body was burning from the inside, like every nerve was on fire and only getting worse.

Nagisa vaguely recognized the net catching him as he fell, his body lying on the bottom of it. His mind was fuzzy, his vision blurred and unfocused. His felt his eyelids dropping and he didn't try and stop them, welcoming the blackness that enveloped his mind.

* * *

"Nagisa? Sorry I'm really late. We had-" Rei stopped talking when he entered the cave to find it strangely empty, "Nagisa?" He called, looking around before he looked closer to the edge of the water. The blond wasn't there and the area was eerily quiet, accented only by the soft slapping of water on rock.

Was it because he was later than usual? Miyu had dragged him into an overzealous conversation about an excursion the biology class was going on to take water samples and catch animals in the ocean to track their movements. Because of that, he had been late to track practice and had to run extra laps. But he had a box of bento he made especially for Nagisa in his hands. He could still smell the amount of squid he had put into it, knowing Nagisa absolutely loved the fish.

Rei couldn't deny the hurt that went through him. Maybe he _had_ made the blond mad at him. Sighing softly, he sat down onto the sand, setting the bento box in his lap. He'd wait all night if he had to.

Hours passed and the sky was nearly dark when Rei knew he had to get home. Maybe the thought he'd wait all night have been a bit of an overstatement. He quickly went into his bag and got out a piece of paper, scrawling down a note to the blond telling him that he'd been there and that the bento was for him. He smiled softly, sadly, and left the food with the paper, promising himself he'd be back the next day.

And he was. But Nagisa wasn't there. The box was untouched and so was the note. Rei felt a spark of worry go through him. Where could Nagisa be? Why would he leave a safe place for so long? _Was he in trouble?_ Rei had warned him to stay away from populated areas. Rei contemplated the thoughts as he waited another few hours before knowing he'd best not wait all day. Making a mental apology to Nagisa, he left another note and took the bento box back. It would spoil if he left it too much longer.

That night, Rei didn't sleep well. His mind, clogged with increasing worry over Nagisa, plagued him with nightmares. Nagisa needed his help, and every time he reached for him he would lose him. The scene played constantly until Rei woke up, sweating and trembling. He didn't try and sleep again for another hour at least, the dream still present in his mind.

* * *

Nagisa forced his eyes open when he finally came too, blinking several times to clear the bubbles from his vision. It was daylight judging from the light filtering down through the water, but that was all he knew. From how hungry he was, it had been at least a day, maybe more. Groaning softly, Nagisa pushed himself up, wincing at the stiffness in his arms. He was still trapped, lying on the bottom of the net. Gingerly, he tested the material the net was made of. It wasn't like the regular fishermen's nets that were made of rope. Instead, the meshing was woven strands of metal.

A feeling of dread set in. Nagisa knew he could get through it, even if he tried cutting it. He knew he could grow sharp fins on his forearms, but he didn't have enough energy and with the material of the net it wouldn't be enough. In the end, he'd only wind up hurting himself.

Sighing softly, he laid back down in the net, the webbing digging into his shoulder blades uncomfortably. He let a few bubbles float from his mouth, watching them as they rose to the surface or popped against the net.

He felt like an idiot. Getting stuck in a net would make him a mockery if any of his kind new. What would his sisters think? Probably make fun as usual.

Nagisa's thoughts were cut short as the net jerked and started to rise from the water. Panic went through him again and he looked wildly side-to-side, watching the as the net rose. He thought quickly of some sort of plan, some sort of way to escape when he got to the deck of whatever boat had caught him. Forcing himself to calm down, he made his body go limp at the bottom of the net, feigning unconsciousness.

Eventually, the net broke the surface and Nagisa heard several gasps and shouts. He felt the warm wood of the deck of a boat as the net came down a little harder than what would've been comfortable. The wet metal of the net fell limply over him, covering his body. He resisted flinching, keeping his face serene and his breathing even.

"What is it?

"What should we do?"

"Is it _alive_ even?"

"Can we cut the net? Are we allowed to?"

"Is it – he – real?"

Nagisa listened to the conversations going on around him and he heard someone coming closer and crouching besides him. Warm fingers pressed against his jugular and he _snapped_. No one had ever laid a finger on him besides Rei. He only liked it when Rei held him. If it wasn't Rei, he wouldn't_allow_ it.

His eyes shot open and his fist, still covered by the net, struck out, colliding with the cheek of the person who tried to check his pulse. The net easily split the skin on the guy's face and he let out a yelp of pain. Nagisa took it as an opportunity to try and get out.

He was still tangled in the net so he helplessly thrashed, wincing when the net snagged some of his scales. There were more people on the boat than he expected, and they certainly _were not_ fishermen.

Nagisa felt scared again. Scared as they closed in around him. Scared as two of them held down his arms to cease his struggling while one of them activated the net again. He clamped his jaw shut to stop the cry that would've left his throat at the wave of electricity going through him again. He felt himself go limp. He felt the warm, dry hands still holding him in place and he _hated_ it.

He found himself welcoming the darkness back in.

* * *

It was dark when Nagisa woke up, blinking and squinting for anything. He was back in the water. That was a good sign until he tasted the liquid.

It tasted _fake_. He felt his heart drop when he realized that it wasn't the ocean though it was seawater. Curious, he swam forward a few meters only to collide with an invisible wall. Stretching out an arm, he pressed his hand against something solid and immoveable. He turned, swimming in the opposite direction only to crash again. He reached out again only to feel the cool glass walls around him again.

The feeling of panic was starting to become hated in Nagisa's mind, but he couldn't help it. He curled his fingers into a fist and slammed the side of his fist against the glass. He repeated the action, beating desperately again the glass, trying to get out.

_I'm trapped. No, no, this... can't happen_, he thought frantically.

He stopped pounding on the glass when the lights in the room came on. He turned and his eyes widened in fear.

He was in a large, glass tank, that had already registered, but standing around the room in white coats were people, staring at him. Some looked astonished, mesmerized, but some looked scared.

_Nagisa_ was scared.

He registered the cool surface of the glass on his back as he moved as far away as he could from their stares, his coral orbs moving from place to place wildly in the room.

Hearing a splash, he jerked his head up. A human dressed in a tight black suit, yellow tanks on his back and a mask over his face, was coming towards him in the water. Nagisa had seen the tanks before. They helped humans breathe underwater. He narrowed his eyes as the diver came closer, close enough to reach out and touch if he tried.

He wouldn't let them touch him again. Not again. Darting out under the diver's feet, Nagisa came up behind him and slated the man against the glass wall, holding him there as his other hand searched blindly around the gear for the tube connected to the diver's mask. The man was struggling, but Nagisa had more than enough strength to hold him in place with one hand.

_Got it._

His hand tightened around the tube connected to the yellow tanks and he yanked roughly, pulling the tube free. Oxygen rushed from the tube, creating a frenzy of bubbles floating for the surface. The man panicked even more. Nagisa easily released him and he shot for the surface.

Watching with narrowed eyes, Nagisa made sure the man was out of the water before he allowed himself to sink to the bottom, making his body as small as possible against a wall of the tank.

He felt his eyes burning as he buried his face in his arms. He couldn't cry; the tears would only get lost in the salt water surrounding him, but the stinging in his eyes made it known to him.

_I want to go home._

_I want to go be with Rei-chan._

The thoughts only made him feel worse. They made something in his chest hurt painfully and he resisted letting out a sob into the water. He had failed Rei. Rei had told him to stay away and be careful. He felt so stupid and he cursed himself mentally for it.

He couldn't let himself sleep; _they_ might try to do something to him. But he did let his mind slip into a state of half-sleep. It was better than being awake.

* * *

It was Monday. Rei had school. He couldn't care less.

He had gone to see if Nagisa had showed up on Sunday and even Monday morning too, but the blond hadn't been there and the cave made no signs that he had been there for days.

Through the worry, Rei couldn't help but to think that Nagisa had moved on. All of Rei's attention wasn't on him anymore because of university activities, so had the blond gotten bored? Had Nagisa gone to find a new best friend?

No, there was _no way_ Nagisa would do that. There was no way that the looks of pure adoration that Rei got from him were fake, or something someone could just _give up_ in a weekend.

That only left worry in Rei's mind.

"Oi! Ryugazaki-kun! Are you even listening?" Rei's head snapped up and looked to his left when Miyu was staring at him with an indignant look on her face. That's right, she had been telling him something and he had spaced out. He'd been completely vacant all day. He had absorbed no schoolwork whatsoever.

"No, I'm sorry," he sighed, adjusting his glasses before he looked back at the textbook on the desk in front of him, "What are we talking about?"

"Watanabe-sensei is talking about their findings!" Miyu said excitedly, "Apparently they found something that's never been known to man, Ryugazaki-kun! Isn't that amazing! Then again, Watanabe-sensei always tends to over exaggerate. They probably found another mutated fish or something," she giggled, "But anyway, he said we can all fill out waivers or something and get into the lab to see, even though_ I_ already have that access, but you should really do it!" She looked a Rei was expectantly brown eyes and he let out a sigh, nodding.

"Fine, I'll do it," he gave in. Miyu grinned widely and made an attempt to hug him, which he avoided at all costs.

It would only remind him more of Nagisa.

The process of filling out forms was a nuisance. Basically, every paper said the same thing in some sort of different wording. They weren't allowed to talk about what they saw in the labs without prior acquiescence and they weren't allowed to interfere with whatever research was happening.

Rei registered Miyu's excited yammering next to him as they walked a ways across campus with the rest of the group and Watanabe to the biology labs. He wasn't really listening. He hadn't been listening in school all day. For once, school wasn't his biggest priority.

"Quickly, quickly! Everyone file in please!" Watanabe instructed, holding the large steel door of the lab open for the students to all shuffle in.

Rei squinted around. The lab was dark and cold. Rei shivered slightly, rubbing at his arm slightly as he felt goose bumps rise on his skin.

"Isn't this exciting, Ryugazaki-kun?" Miyu asked next to him in a hushed whisper. Rei opened his mouth to answer her but as he did the lights came on, flooding the room in a dim white glow.

Everything made sense when the lights came on and Rei felt as if he had been drenched in cold water. His eyes focused on the tank in the middle of the wide room, widening in shock.

Nagisa saw him too, his dull, coral eyes finding Rei's as he swam forward. He reached out only to have his hand slap glass. Anger bubbled through him. Anger that Rei was right there, standing in the same room, and he couldn't reach him. He swam back before he forced his body forward, slamming into the side of the tank.

Rei's eyes widened when the tank gave a visible shudder at the force Nagisa applied against it. The blond stared at him, his eyes desperate, through the glass, pounding on it with his fists.

"Out! Out! Everybody out now!" Watanabe's voiced yelled over the commotion among the students at the sight of the panicking sea creature. Rei frantically looked over his shoulder as Miyu pulled him from the room only to see Nagisa still pounding on the glass.

* * *

Notes: Idk I don't really like this chapter...? I'm at a bit of a loss here to be honest. I think this could come to an end quickly or I could draw it out for another three or four chapters. I don't know. I need inspiration or something or ideas. Well, I hope you enjoyed anyway! Comments are always appreciated! Stay tuned~


	8. Chapter 8

_Nagisa... Nagisa is..._

Rei barely registered that he was walking quickly down a hall in the university. Well, being tugged down the hallway was more like it. Miyu's hand was curled around his wrist pulling him away from the lab as soon as Watanabe ordered everyone out. Rei couldn't focus on that though. The only thing he was thinking about was Nagisa.

Nagisa was there, in a _tank._ Nagisa was _trapped_. Nagisa looked _scared_.

Rei was scared too. He was scared that he wouldn't get to be with Nagisa anymore. Scared at the blond would get hurt. But he knew that Nagisa was_terrified_. Rei had never seen that look on his face before; a look of incredible fear that should never grace the features of someone as bright and beautiful as Nagisa.

_Nagisa. Nagisa, I'll save-_

"Ryugazaki-kun! Are you listening to me?" Rei's eyes focused back from the dull, lavender shade they had acquired when he was deep in thought. He was standing opposite from Miyu in an empty classroom she had led them into. The door was closed behind them and the area around was quiet.

Rei realized that the pounding wasn't his feet on the floor anymore. He heard his heart in his head, beating against his rib cage. He hadn't even realized how worked up he had gotten. His breath was too short for his liking, his legs to unstable. Staggering a bit, he walked back awards and sat heavily down in a chair in the classroom.

"Ryugazaki-kun," Miyu's voice came again, softer, her arms folding across her chest, "I think you have some explaining to do, yeah?"

"I don't... I don't know what you mean," Rei said, his voice sounding dead and dull on his own ears.

"Don't give me that, Ryugazaki-kun," Miyu snapped, causing Rei's gaze to quickly shift to the side. Miyu's brown eyes softened and she pulled up a chair across from him, tucking her skirt under her as she crossed her legs, dejectedly dropping her hands into her lap.

"That was your friend," she finally spoke up, causing Rei's head to snap up, his eyes wide, "Your friend who you took to the festival. Nagisa, wasn't it?" Rei's mouth opened to speak, but no words came out. Miyu remembered Nagisa's name? He thought she might have had _slight_ recognition of him, but to remember his name so vividly? Rei felt himself growing even more worried.

"I don't know what you're talking about," he managed hoarsely, his voice small in the largeness of the quiet room.

"Rei-kun," Miyu sighed softly, scooting forward with her chair to touch Rei's forearm slightly, her brown eyes sad and sympathetic. Rei flinched at her use of his first name. Nagisa called him by his first name. One honorific off and it would be the same.

_Rei-chan!_

Rei shuddered, "Don't call me that," he said softly, "Not now, please." Miyu nodded, not moving her hand away. Rei assumed that her touch would've been warm, but his entire body was numb.

"They'll do things to him you know," Miyu spoke up, giving Rei's arm a short squeeze to grab his attention, "He's an _experiment_, Ryugazaki-kun They'll want to get in the water with him, get him to communicate, to let them run _tests _on him. Tests that could _hurt_ him and-"

"That's enough!" Rei said loudly, his voice raising and his shoulders started to shake, "That's enough," he repeated, his voice quieting, shaking as his body was, "Don't... Don't say those things, please don't. Don't say those things." Images of Nagisa hurt flashed through his brain. Images of Nagisa not smiling, of Nagisa sad and cold and broken and _alone._ He couldn't let that happen. Nagisa didn't deserve that. Nagisa was too wonderful, to pure.

"You need to tell me everything then, Ryugazaki-kun," Miyu responded gently, her calm voice breaking through the images his mind was conjuring up, "I'm an assistant in the lab. I could help. I could get him out. I could get you clearance to see him potentially. You need to tell me." Rei shakily nodded and Miyu's hand moved away back to her lap, her eyes inquisitively watching him.

"You can't tell anyone. Is that clear? _Anyone_."

"Yes, I know. I promise I won't," she affirmed, her voice clear and honest. It was refreshing. To think the girl that Rei found to be slightly annoying, like most people, would be helping him.

"I almost drowned several weeks ago," he started off, surprised at how solid his voice sounded, "When the track team went out onto the ocean after a meet. There was a storm and I couldn't swim. I fell off the deck and I was drowning. I thought I was going to die, but then I woke up in the hospital. And the doctors told me that I had swum to shore."

"But you didn't"

"Obviously not," Rei said, "So I started trying to figure it out, and then I met _him_."

"Nagisa," Miyu said and Rei nodded.

"Yes. And he told me he wanted to be my friend and that he saved me. He taught me how to swim so we could... we could be_ together_. He just wanted a friend. And I... And _I_ needed a friend, more than I realized at the time." He heard himself speaking the words, his eyes widened at the end. It was true. He needed Nagisa as much as Nagisa needed him. Nagisa was different and new and beautiful and everything that was missing in Rei's life.

"What about the festival? How can he do that?" Miyu asked. Rei figured that question would come up and there it was.

"He heard about the festival at the piers. And he told me he wanted to go and told me he could walk if he wanted to. He was adamant to go," Rei said, smiling a little to himself.

"But how can he-"

"I don't know all those details," Rei sighed, "All I know is that he did. He stayed at my house for the weekend and he went to the festival and-"

_And we kissed._

Rei couldn't believe he almost said that. He felt his ears grow warm. Thank goodness his hair covered them. He didn't want those kind of probing questions.

"And?" Miyu echoed, her eyes curious.

"And he got sick – dehydrated – so I took him back to the ocean and he turned back," Rei covered with, not that it wasn't true, "But he was fine. And then everything was fine for a few weeks."

"Until now."

"Until now," Rei nodded, his voice quiet. His head dropped at his stared down at his hands. Going over everything in his head, he came to only one conclusion. "It's... It's all my fault, isn't it?" He choked out, feeling his eyes stinging with unwanted tears, "God, this is all my fault. It's my fault." He hiccupped, covering his mouth with his hand as his cheeks heated, a few tears spilling from his eyes. He felt himself breaking down, his entire body shaking starting from his shoulders.

What if he couldn't get Nagisa out?

What if Nagisa was taken away to another facility?

What if Nagisa would never get to go back into the ocean ever again?

_And it's all my fault._

"Ryugazaki-kun," Miyu said, her voice soft and soothing and close to him. He felt her hands on his quivering shoulders, "Ryugazaki-kun, please, calm down. It's alright. It's alright," she said softly. Rei opened his eyes to lookup at her, his vision blurred with tears. Miyu gave him a small, soft and reassuring, "I'll do whatever I can, Ryugazaki-kun."

Rei had never felt so grateful.

* * *

Nagisa was exhausted. His arm muscles ached and were sore. The sides of his hands hurt from where he had relentlessly pounded the glass. He had been getting somewhere too, but his spirit had died again when Rei's face had disappeared from the room, forced out by the despicable people in the lab.

Seeing Rei's face so scared had made him even more so. He knew he was shaking in the water, his arms wrapped tightly around his torso. He couldn't stop. Lying at the bottom of the glass tank, he felt his body being racked by soundless, unseen sobs.

He curled into on himself, trying to hide himself from the people trying to observe him. He couldn't give them the satisfaction of being able to gather any data. He would force himself to not sleep, not eat anything they gave him.

But he was _starving_. He had never gotten to catch and eat the fish he had been chasing when the whole ordeal started. He knew he could survive a month or so without food, but he had spoiled himself the past few months.

He had eaten whenever he felt hungry, taken from unsuspecting fishermen's nets and eaten the cooked food with Rei. He had no tolerance built up to hunger.

Typically, his kind didn't even eat that much. Nagisa loved food; his sisters used to constantly tease him when he was younger about it, saying that he would never need a friend or soul mate as long as there was fish to eat. He hadn't argued with them then, merely laughed it off, but now he was too spoiled.

Rei spoiled him, and he was paying the price.

* * *

A few more days trickled by. To both Nagisa and Rei, time was going back too slow with nothing happening. Miyu had reassured Rei that she was trying to find the opportune moment to help Nagisa and it wasn't as if Rei didn't believe her. He just wanted Nagisa back in his arms as soon as possible.

Nagisa had continued to ignore the scientists completely. None of them dared get back into the water yet, but they had offered him food. A few small fish had been released into the water for him, but he ignored them too.

That is, until the fish started to annoy him. He threw them out of the tank when the scientists took the grate off the top to change the water. There was no way he was eating anything they gave him. He didn't even like that kind of fish, and he didn't know what humans were capable of putting into their food.

They had made several attempts to communicate with him, even going as far as to hold up cards with words written on them to see if he could read. Of course he could read, he wasn't an idiot, but there was no way he'd ever answer them. He wasn't interested in a single human except for Rei. Rei was the only person he cared about. Rei was kind and gentle and sweet. These people were cruel and cold.

Nagisa observed how the room would empty of the scientists at noon. Some would take boxes of what Nagisa guessed was food and they would all leave. Only then did Nagisa let himself stretch out his sore muscles. Staying cramped up at the bottom of the tank wasn't comfortable but it was necessary.

Sighing softly, he pushed himself off the floor of the tank and swam up to the top, making sure not to bang his head on the metal grate covering the tank like he had a few times before. Plunging down into the water again, he let his hair be swept aside by the bubbles he created while swimming quickly in circles, propelling himself with the strong muscles in his tail.

A creak echoed through the room and Nagisa stopped abruptly, his eyes quickly looking over to the opening door in the lab. It wasn't time yet, was it? The people would leave for at least an hour, an hour of some sort of freedom during the day for Nagisa. He stayed still as a girl entered the room, closing the door quietly behind her. Nagisa felt a spark of recognition go through him. He recognized the girl from...

_The festival. When Rei-chan took me._

_He doesn't like her._

He watched as she approached tank, looking quickly to the sides to make sure the room was truly empty. Her eyes found his, staring through the glass and water. Nagisa found himself frozen. He wasn't compelled to swim to the bottom and try to hide. This girl... Something about her made him feel uneasy, but not as uneasy as he felt around the other scientists.

Miyu approached the tank, still looking up at Nagisa in the water. Nagisa could see awe and wonder in her eyes, unlike the studying and hard gazes of the scientists. He let some of the tension flow from his shoulders then. Her lips were moving, but he could read her lips or hear her even slightly that far away. In careful movements, he swam down to her level, getting close enough to the glass to see her face clearly.

"Nagisa-kun?"

Nagisa's eyes widened. Hearing his own name sent an indescribable feeling through him and he instantly reached out, pressing his palm against the glass and giving her a slow nod.

"Nagisa-kun. My name's Miyu Yamada," she continued. Nagisa nodded; Miyu, they'd definitely met at the festival, but he hadn't gotten her name then, "I want to help you, Nagisa," she said. Nagisa's eyes widened further at that and he pressed both hands against the glass, leaning closer, nodding quickly. Her voice was slightly muffled by the glass and the water around him, but he could still make out her words. He opened his mouth to say something only to have bubbles come out instead of sound.

"You can't speak in the water?" Nagisa shook his head, his eyes going downcast for a moment. He could communicate with his own kind in the water, but not with humans. Miyu gave him a soft smile and something about the gesture reminded him of Rei.

And it made his heart hurt.

"Nagisa-kun, listen. Tonight, the lights will come on. I'll turn off the surveillance and the alarms, but that's all I can do. Do you think you can get out of here?" Nagisa blinked slowly, contemplating. The glass had to have a weak point somewhere, and Nagisa could easily exploit it with his strength and have the possibility of breaking through. He gave her a firm nod, his eyes narrowing slightly in determination.

_If it means I can be with Rei-chan again._

"Alright. Good luck, Nagisa-kun," Miyu said, pressing her hand up against the glass for a brief moment before turning to leave. Nagisa watched her go and heard the door close before he curled his hands and let them drop from the glass.

At any other time, he would've smiled. He felt something he hadn't felt in days go through him. He felt _hopeful_. There was a chance to get out, and Nagisa didn't care how hard it was.

* * *

Nagisa was restless the rest of the day. He hid it from the scientists as best as he could. He was fidgety and he knew he was moving around more than he would usually, but that only seemed to excite the scientists, causing them to take out pads of paper to write down notes. He didn't understand what they were noting exactly. He was just moving. _Humans_ moved. It was confusing to him. He didn't let himself focus on it now though. He had to wait and be patient for the people to all leave so that Miyu could do as she promised him.

Nagisa didn't know if he trusted her or not. He remembered how Rei didn't seem to like her too much, but she was obviously talking to Rei about how to help him. Only Rei would _want_ to rescue him.

The scientists slowly left for the night, leaving Nagisa alone and plunging the room into darkness. Nagisa shuddered, hating the silence. The ocean was never quiet. There were always the sounds of gentle waves slapping the shore or crashing together, but not here. It was dark and silent and Nagisa _hated_ it.

After about an hour, the lights came back on, flooding the room with an artificial white glow. Nagisa looked around quickly, making sure no one was there He was alone, and if Miyu had done what she had promised, nothing would stop him from leaving.

Except the walls of glass around him that is.

Backing up to the farthest wall, Nagisa shot forward, the side of his body ready to make impact with the tank. He tried a few times, the shudders the tank was giving increasing. Nagisa was breathing hard and his arm felt numb from hitting the glass, but he couldn't stop. He pushed himself forward again, hitting the glass and freezing in the water when he heard an audible crack. He backed up a small bit, staring at the small crack in the clear pane.

A wave of determination went through him and he gritted his teeth, slamming his body against the tank once more. The crack grew, other small breaks appearing off of it. Nagisa knew he was close to breaking through. He raised his fist, putting power and energy behind it as he brought it forward.

Pain registered in his hand and arm as he collided with the glass but he didn't care. His hand went through, punching at the weak point. Gritting his teeth, he pulled his arm out, not even caring about the shards of glass that scrapping and cut into his skin. Water was rushing out of the tank from the hole he made and the cracks were only spread, jutting sharp and fast along the surface. Nagisa's eyes widened and he knew he needed to get away but he was transfixed with how quickly the glass was breaking.

The tank practically exploded, it's integrity ruined by Nagisa's efforts. Water and glass sprayed everywhere, pouring from the shattered remains of the tank into the lab, flooding it. After being tossed by the rushing water, Nagisa found himself on the ground at the bottom of the ruined tank. He took a strangled breath of air, trying to get his lungs back into the swing of breathing air. He'd been in the water so long after all.

Glass was everywhere and only a few inches of water remained. His head hurt and, when he raised his hand to touch his forehead, it came back red.

Groaning softly, he pushed his upper body up from the wreckage, glass cutting into the palms of his arms. He ignored the pain, looking around to make sure no one had been alerted to his escape. Once he affirmed that he was still alone, the pain started. His head hurt, his hands hurt, his side was numb from beating the glass and sure to bruise. His arm was badly cut from punching through the wall, but he knew he still had to focus on getting out.

And there was only one way to do that.

Walking out.

Nagisa gritted his teeth and he turned himself onto his side. He knew he'd have to transform again if he wanted to escape. His eyes squeezed shut and he pressed his lips together into a firm line. It was nothing short of painful to get rid of an entire appendage and then get two more. Nagisa didn't make a sound. His tolerance to physical pain was always quite good.

Letting out a gasp when it was over, Nagisa shifted, feeling how the skin and scales from his tail slipped off the skin of the legs he just created. He didn't worry about leaving remains of skin for the scientists to find. It would dissolve into water anyway.

Shakily, Nagisa pushed himself up and onto unsteady legs, staggering slightly but regaining his balance. Gingerly, he stepped from the remains of the tank, trying to cut his feet as little as possible, though it didn't go too well.

Now he just had to figure out what to do and where to go now.

It wasn't too hard to come up with something. He knew there was only one place he could go.

To his relief, he found one of the white coats the men left behind. It was much too large for him, but it covered most of his body. He pulled it tightly around himself, figuring out how some of the buttons worked before he gave up.

As soon as he found a door to the outside, he was gone, his bare feet hitting the pavement as he broke into a run and left the university behind him.

* * *

It was yet another quiet night for Rei after a long, dull day. Every day since Nagisa had been taken from him had been grey and restless. His parents didn't get home until late in the summer months and, depending on where they were for the day working, they would sometimes not come home until the next day. Rei sighed, standing from his desk to go to the kitchen and make himself something to eat, even though he wasn't that hungry.

He made his way downstairs and stopped when he heard a soft knock at the door. Raising an eyebrow at the suspiciously quiet noise, he walked to the door, unlocking it and opening it wide.

The sight that greeted him made him freeze in place.

"Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked quietly, tired coral eyes staring up to meet Rei's own wide eyes.

"Na-Nagisa," he breathed, his voice shaky from the shock and relief going through him. In a fluid motion, he grabbed Nagisa, pulling him inside and closing the door before his arms were around the blond in front of him, holding him tight and close to his chest. His hands fisted in the damp lab coat Nagisa was wearing, trying to pull him even closer.

"R-Rei-chan," Nagisa whimpered, raising his aching arms to wrap them around Rei as well, his hands balled just as tightly in Rei's shirt. Rei felt warm, wet tears start to soak through his shirt at where Nagisa's face was pressed against his chest. A sob left Nagisa's body, his body shuddering with the force of the sound.

Rei only tightened his arms, gently easing both of them to the floor. He cradled Nagisa's head against his neck, feeling tears coming to his own eyes as the shock wore off.

Nagisa was here.

Nagisa was in his arms.

Nagisa was okay.

_Nagisa..._

Rei felt his own tears start to fall and he buried his face in Nagisa's shoulder, letting soft sobs wrack his body.

"Nagisa," he breathed, "Nagisa... Oh God, Nagisa," he heard himself murmuring. He'd never felt so _relieved_ in his entire life. This topped the relief he'd get when he made a difficult jump in track, or when he got a good grade on a test that he hadn't studied for. This topped everything. This was monumentally bigger than any of that.

"I'm so sorry, Rei-chan! This... Th-this was all my fault," Nagisa blubbered in between his sobs, "Please... P-please forgive me, R-Rei-chan. I'm sorry for not listening to you a-about being careful. I'm s-sorry!"

"Shh," Rei shushed him gently, "Don't apologize. I could never put you at fault. Ever. There's nothing to be sorry for," he murmured, surprised at how steady his voice was with the tears still stinging in his eyes, "I'm... I-I'm just so, _so_ glad that you're safe, and here with me."

Nagisa didn't say anything after. He nodded lightly against Rei's neck as he continued crying, unable to stop himself. Rei continued to hold him close, running his hand through Nagisa's damp blond hair and rubbing his back to soothe him. Eventually, the blond calmed down, but kept his arms wrapped around Rei.

Only then did Rei take notice of the blood staining the white of the lab coat and his floor where Nagisa had stepped.

"You're hurt," he said, urgency coming back to his voice, "Come on. I'll take care of everything. You don't have to worry anymore." Nagisa raised his head, looking up at Rei with still tear-filled eyes, and nodded.

"Thank you, Rei-chan," he said quietly, his voice hoarse from crying. Rei smiled gently down at him, swiping the tears from Nagisa's cheeks tenderly with the side of his thumb.

"Come on." He lifted Nagisa into his arms, not wanting the blond to have to walk anymore on his obviously wounded feet.

With some effort, he carried Nagisa up the stairs and into the bathroom. After fetching him a pair of clean boxers and letting him change, Rei had Nagisa sit on the counter while he attended to his wounds.

"This is going to hurt a little. I'm sorry," Rei said, his eyes sweeping over the cuts on Nagisa's arms and hands.

"That's okay," Nagisa said, "I'll be alright." Rei nodded, pressing a kiss to Nagisa's forehead on impulse before he turned away to both get the supplies he needed and to hide his slightly flushed cheeks.

Surprisingly, Nagisa barely made a sound while Rei picked glass from his wounds. The cuts were deep from the glass, but not deep enough to merit stitches, which Rei was happy about. He didn't want to have to take Nagisa to a hospital. After all the glass was taken out, Rei covered the lacerations in medicine and wrapped bandages around them with ease.

"All done," Rei said, giving Nagisa a smile, which the blond returned. Though the upturn of his lips was subdued from normal, just seeing a smile on Nagisa's face made him feel like everything would be okay. "Oh! Here," Rei said quickly, turning away to get a paper cup and quickly fill it with cool, tap water. "You have to stay hydrated this time," he said when Nagisa's eyes turned questioning, his voice taking on an almost motherly tone.

"Right," Nagisa said, accepting the cup. He downed the water in one go, handing the cup back to Rei, who crushed it in his hand and tossed it into the trash.

"You probably want to get dressed. Let me-"

"Rei-chan? Can we get pizza?" Nagisa cut him off, a hopeful sound to his voice. Rei looked back and saw the familiar shine in Nagisa's eyes slightly returned.

"Pizza?" He asked.

"Mhm," Nagisa nodded, "I haven't had anything to eats in days, Rei-chan. Please can we get some pizza?" Rei couldn't help but to smile at the eagerness in Nagisa voice. He nodded immediately at the request.

"Of course," he said, "I haven't eaten yet either. Here, get dressed and I'll order it, okay?" Nagisa nodded happily, a bright smile finally stretching back across his face. The sight made Rei's heart feel like it'd skipped a beat. How long had he waited to see that look again? It seemed like it had been ages.

* * *

"Mm, Rei-chan, pizza is so _good_," Nagisa said, his voice muffled by the food in his mouth, a look of pure bliss on his face. Rei chuckled softly; he had eaten two pieces and left the rest to Nagisa. He was glad he had ordered a large because Nagisa was starting on his sixth piece.

"You shouldn't eat too much," Rei said, "You could get a stomach ache." Nagisa finished chewing the bite he had in his mouth, swallowed, and nodded in compliance.

"Okay, Rei-chan, but can we get pizza again tomorrow? With different things on it? Can we?" Rei laughed again, standing from the table to take the remaining pizza to the counter to cover over for later.

"Yes, we can get pizza again tomorrow," he agreed.

"Yay! You're the best, Rei-chan!" He giggled, munching happily on the crust of his last piece. When he was finally done, he realized how tired he was. He hadn't had a decent night's sleep since the entire ordeal started in fear of the scientists trying to touch him while he was asleep.

"Hey, Rei-chan?" he asked, opening his mouth in a large yawn, "Can we go to bed now? I'm really tired."

"Alright. Turning in early would probably be for the best," Rei agreed, "Let's go." Nagisa stood up gingerly on his bandaged feet and moved to take Rei's hand, intertwining their fingers even for the short walk up the stairs and into Rei's bedroom.

Within minutes, Nagisa was asleep, once more curled up against Rei's chest. Rei wasn't tired enough yet so he stayed awake, his hand still clasp in Nagisa's. Watching the blond's chest rise and fall steadily, watching his eyelids flutter with REM. He was still getting over the last bit of disbelief that Nagisa was with him again. Somewhere, in the very depths of his mind, the idea that Nagisa would never be with him again had been created. Now, Rei scolded himself mentally for having such little faith in Nagisa and in their bond.

Rei turned to the side and fetched his phone from his side table, sliding it open to send a text to Miyu. There wasn't much to say and he ended the message in two words.

_Thank you._

* * *

Notes: So there's chapter eight! Writing this one came way easier to me than the last chapter to be honest. Comments are always appreciated! Thank you again for the increase in them last chapter! They were so sweet! All always, thank you so, so much for reading! Stay tuned~


	9. Chapter 9

Notes: I am so so so sorry this took so long! The past two weeks with school and everything have been horrible and I got sick and I've just been feeling bleh. Enjoy Chapter Nine!

* * *

"You just turn this..."

"...And _water_ comes out?"

"Yes. You can adjust the temperature here. And then when you're done, you just pull this out."

"So you just _sit_ in the water? For how long? Isn't it boring, Rei-chan?"

"It's _supposed_ to be relaxing," Rei sighed, adjusting his glasses before he whipped them off to wipe away the collected steam on the lenses. He had been trying to explain the concepts of the things in his home so that Nagisa could be comfortable while Rei went to school for the day. So far, explanations about the microwave and the television had gone well, but Nagisa seemed especially baffled by the concept of even taking a bath.

"What's the point of being in water if you can't swim?" Nagisa huffed indignantly, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he stared the bathtub down.

"I don't know. Ask the Ancient Greeks," Rei scoffed, sliding his glasses back up the bridge of his nose.

"Who?"

"Just forget it," Rei griped, "I'm going to be late for school because of this." Nagisa's face instantly fell and he stared up at Rei with worried eyes, which only made Rei feel bad for putting that look on Nagisa's face, "Don't make that face," he sighed, coming forward to wrap his arms around Nagisa and pulled him close. Nagisa instantly relaxed into Rei's arms, happily nuzzling his chest.

That was how they had woken up to Rei's alarm in the morning. Nagisa had been too sleepy to even bother questioning what the high-pitched sound was. He was firmly wrapped around Rei, as if the cobalt-haired teen was some sort of giant teddy bear.

Rei wished he could've spent the entire morning watching Nagisa get the rest he needed, but he had been forced to wake the blond up to make sure he could go through the day without burning the house down.

"I'm still sleepy, Rei-chan," Nagisa mumbled, his face pressed firmly into Rei's chest.

"You can go back to sleep now," Rei said, dragging a hand through Nagisa's sleep-mused curls, "I just wanted to make sure you'd be alright alone until I got home."

"That's so nice of you, Rei-chan," Nagisa giggled, raising his head to look up at Rei was a sweet smile, "Take me back to bed? My feet still hurt." Rei chuckled softly and obliged, scooping Nagisa almost effortlessly into his arms.

"If you do take a bath, just replace the bandages like I did last night, okay? Do you remember how I did it?" He asked he set Nagisa down in the bed.

"Mhm, I remember," Nagisa nodded, sliding under the blankets and burrowing into them, sighing at the warmth as he closed his eyes. Rei gently smiled and turned to leave but Nagisa's hand caught his hand, tugging him back to the bedside.

"Have a good day at school, Rei-chan," Nagisa said sleepily, his coral eyes open halfway.

"I will," Rei said, giving Nagisa's hand a squeeze before the blond let his grip slack.

He looked back into the bedroom once more before he left. Nagisa was already asleep, curled under the blankets.

_I will because I know I'll get to come home to you. _

* * *

As expected, the university was buzzing with activity and rumors, but thankfully no one actually had any clue what had happened. Rei was surprised to see an entire news crew there, interviewing an obviously reluctant scientist. There was no way they'd give up any information with proof and Rei knew that.

Still, he couldn't help but to start feeling slightly worried. With all this activity, he knew that the scientists wouldn't stop trying to figure out what happened so they could find Nagisa and capture him again. Rei shuddered thinking about it. He would _not_ let that happen again. Nagisa was meant to be free.

His cellphone beeped in his pocket, indicating he had a message. He pulled it out and checked it. There was a text from Miyu.

_- Meet me in room 216_

Rei slid the phone shut and pushed it back into his pocket. He figured that Miyu would be having the same thoughts and worries. Deciding he'd be late to class, Rei headed across campus to meet her.

* * *

"So, what are we going to do?" Miyu started right off as soon as Rei entered the room. The room was empty and Miyu was leaning against a desk, her arms folded and her eyes narrowed in thought.

"About?" Rei answered, closing the door as he walked in. Miyu rolled her eyes, pushing off from the desk to face him.

"You know," she said, "Don't act like such an idiot, Ryugazaki-kun."

Right. Nagisa.

"You're worried, aren't you?" Miyu continued, raising a thin eyebrow up at him, "Well, I am too. Have you seen the campus? It's crawling with news people. And I haven't even been near the labs yet. I've heard they're all sectioned off."

"Yes, I am worried," Rei sighed, moving to adjust his glasses, "But everything will die down right? This'll be over soon."

"No. It won't," Miyu said firmly, "Do you not realize what your friend is? Your friend is _myth_. He shouldn't exist. And now that they know he's out there, they're not going to just give up until he's on their dissection table." Rei paled at her word and he suddenly felt sick.

"They... They wouldn't do that," he said hoarsely, his eyes wide.

"Maybe, maybe not. All I'm saying is that this has gotten risky," Miyu muttered before he gaze softened slightly, "How is Nagisa? I'm guessing from your text that he found you."

"Yes, he did. He was hurt by the glass, but he'll be fine," Rei answered, feeling suddenly defensive that Miyu was asking about Nagisa as if she was entitled to know about him. Miyu smiled softly and nodded.

"That's good," she said, "I didn't get to see him get out. I turned off the security system and got out of there. No need for me to stick around and get caught, right?"

"Right," Rei nodded, "So what do you want then? What do you propose we should do?"

"May I accompany you home? I'm guessing he's still there with you. I think we should talk about this together." Rei sighed, thinking about the repercussions and advantages of bringing Miyu home. He didn't know how much Nagisa trusted her, or if he trusted any other human besides Rei anymore. But it would be easier to talk about this with Nagisa there.

"Alright," he said reluctantly, "Meet me in front of the school when classes end."

* * *

Nagisa woke up again a little before noon. He nearly called out for Rei before he remembered that the cobalt-haired teen had school. His mood dropped slightly after that, but then he remembered that he could try out all of the things Rei showed him about the house and he quickly threw back the blankets.

Scurrying quickly into the bathroom, he stared, eyes narrowed in concentration as he tried to remember how Rei had worked the knobs on the tub. Eventually he turned them the red one first and then let out a yelp when the water rushing out was scalding to the touch. He finally found equilibrium between the two temperatures, stripped off his clothes, and submerged himself in the tub.

Nagisa suddenly understood why taking a bath was desirable. The water was so different from the ocean water. It lapped his skin gently as opposed to the ocean that still acted violently even when the weather was calm.

He submerged his head under the water, watching fascinated as bubbles of air escaped his lips and popped on the surface. The burning in his lungs reminded him that he couldn't currently breathe under water. Reluctantly, he sat up, shaking out his hair, successfully spraying water over the floor. Shrugging to himself, he decided to get out, feeling hungry.

He successfully managed to replace the bandages as Rei had done before, albeit a bit messily, and made his way to the kitchen to heat up the left over pizza as Rei had showed him.

He vaguely thought about how fun it would be to live with Rei all the time, just the two of them. He giggled to himself as he sat in the living room, munching on the pizza.

After a while, he grew bored of the food and decided to watch one of Rei's many DVDs, avoiding all the boring, educational looking ones in favor of the brightly colored cases with pictures. They were covered in a thin layer of dust, since Rei hadn't had the heart to toss them but he no longer watched them. Nagisa rolled his eyes as he sorted through them, knowing Rei would say something along the lines that he didn't bother with silly, childish things.

Nagisa giggled to himself as he finally picked out a movie and popped it into the player as he had seen Rei doing, settled back against the couch on the floor, his eyes glued to the screen.

* * *

"Ready?"

"Yeah, I guess," Rei sighed, gazing down at Miyu. She had met him in front of the school and was staring up at him expectantly and ready to go. He sighed again, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose, "Right then. Let's go."

The train ride and the rest of the walk to Rei's home was quiet, neither of them saying much, not that Rei had much to say to the girl anyway. As they finished the walk, his gaze was locked on the ocean view to the left the entire time, his lavender eyes gazing across the blue waves.

"Ryugazaki-kun? Are we here? You stopped," Miyu called, taking his attention away from the water.

"A few more houses," he said, starting to walk forward again.

Once they reached his home, he unlocked the door, opening it wide to allow Miyu inside.

"Rei-chan!" Nagisa's cry filled the house as the blond came bowling down the hall, his feet slapping the floor as he practically leapt onto Rei, wrapping his arms tightly around him. The blond noticed Miyu after, and Rei felt him tense up against him.

"Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked in a confused tone, his worried pink gaze turning up to lock with Rei's eyes. Rei smiled, and he felt Nagisa relax slightly at the facial expression.

"Don't worry, Nagisa," he said gently, "Yamada-senpai just wants to talk," he said. Miyu huffed, slapping Rei's arm lightly with a pout on her face.

"I've told you, Ryugazaki-kun! It's Miyu. Not 'Yamada-senpai,'" she muttered, "You'll ever impress any girls if you do that!"

"Rei-chan doesn't want to impress any girls," Nagisa responded quickly, his arms tightening around Rei's torso. Rei laughed awkwardly and pried Nagisa off of him, though he allowed the blond to keep his arms secured around his arm.

"Let's just go inside please," he said, walking forward behind Miyu inside, "Were you okay by yourself today, Nagisa?" He asked the blond as they walked into the living room.

"Mhm! It was really lonely without Rei-chan, but I made do," he said, giving Rei a bright smile, which Rei returned with slightly less enthusiasm but with the same emotion. Nagisa giggled and let go of him to spring onto the couch, flopping onto the cushions before he sat up and patted the space next to him for Rei to sit.

Once Rei was seated besides Nagisa, and Miyu was also seated in another chair across from them, silence fell over the room. Miyu's wide brown eyes were glued to Nagisa the whole time, staring at him in wonder.

"So um-"

"Can I... Can I ask about your species, Nagisa-kun?" Miyu cut Rei off, finally blurting out what she wanted to ask the entire time, her cheeks flushing in embarrassment. Rei watched as a hard, distrusting look appeared in Nagisa's eyes and he reached down to touch the blond's hand gently, hoping to relax him.

"I don't think so Yamada-senpai," Rei said sternly. Miyu's face fell and she looked away bashfully, nodding slowly, "You wanted to talk about the situation at hand."

Yes," Miyu affirmed, "Nagisa-kun, they're going to keep looking for you." Nagisa's eyes widened at her words and he turned his hand to grab onto Rei's tightly.

"But I... I thought it would be okay now," he said quietly.

"No, it doesn't work like that," Miyu said seriously, "You're something new, something unseen before. They're going to want you back now that they know you're out there." Nagisa stared at her, and Rei didn't like the look in his eyes. He didn't like how tense Nagisa's shoulders were, how his eyes were large and frightened, his hand squeezing Rei's almost too tightly.

"If that's all you came here to say," Rei started, "Then you could've told me," he said defensively, "Nagisa doesn't need to hear any of that," he nearly snarled, feeling a surge of protectiveness. Miyu looked a bit taken aback at his tone of voice and she blinked a few times, staring at him as she tried to find what to say. Rei had basically told her to leave in more or less words.

"Alright," she said quietly, standing and knowing that she messed up, "Walk me out, Ryugazaki-kun?" Rei nodded, giving Nagisa's hand a squeeze to tell him that he'd be back. Nagisa watched as he left the room behind Miyu before he quietly got up and followed, feeling very suspicious of the girl now, despite her assistance in his get-away.

"All I'm saying, Ryugazaki-kun, is that you need to tell him to leave." Nagisa heard Miyu's voice from the doorway and his eyes widened, fear going through him.

"Stop. I'm not going to do that," Rei's voice came to his ears.

"You know as well as I do that it's not safe, Ryugazaki-kun! Can't you see? Don't be so selfish! So, you made friends with a _merperson_, either let him go or you're basically putting him right into the hands of people who would strap him to a table for a vivisection-"

"Stop!" Rei said louder, his eyes narrowing and his hands balling into fists, "I think you should leave. I can handle myself fine. I'll see you at school." Nagisa didn't hear Miyu say anything else and, when he heard the door shut, he quickly returned to the couch before Rei could find him eavesdropping.

"Sorry about that," Rei said quietly as he entered the room again, sitting back besides Nagisa. Nagisa smiled gently and moved to pull him close, wrapping his arms around Rei's sides.

"You're so tense, Rei-chan," he mumbled into Rei's shirt, "It's okay. Everything will work out right?"

"Yeah," Rei nodded slowly. Nagisa was quiet for a few moments, thinking about how to phrase his question.

"You won't make me go away, will you, Rei-chan?" he asked softly, his voice trembling slightly on Rei's name. Rei's body tensed against him and he could feel how every muscle locked into place.

"No," Rei said, his voice firm, "I wont." He was quiet again for a moment, "You were listening, weren't you?" Nagisa didn't deny it, nodding against Rei's chest before he lifted his head to stare up at Rei.

"I don't want to be without you, Rei-chan," he said quietly, "I _can't_ be without Rei-chan. But, what's left for me here? Miyu-chan said I couldn't stay... That I'd get hurt," he murmured, "Does that mean you'll get hurt too?" he asked desperately, his eyes wide.

"No, no, please," Rei said, trying to keep his voice gentle, "None of that will happen. I-"

"Why do you keep telling yourself that, Rei-chan!" Nagisa said louder, sitting up to look at Rei face-to-face, "There's nothing left here! I can't go out. Those people will be looking for me! I don't want them to hurt me! I don't want them to touch me," he whimpered, "Please, tell me what to do Rei-chan! Please." Rei opened his mouth, staring with wide eyes at Nagisa, a bit shocked at his outburst.

Nothing came to mind. He couldn't think of a single, logical thing that would help, that would allow Nagisa to stay with him. Nagisa's eyes were watering, filled with unshed tears. Rei closed his mouth when no sound came out, desperately trying to think of something.

A broken sound came from the boy in his lap and he stared, wide-eyed and panicking at Nagisa started to cry. He was clearly trying to keep his sobs quiet, but his shoulders trembled, his whole body trembled, and Rei felt drops of salty wetness soak through the fabric of his shirt.

"You can't think of _anything_, Rei-chan?" He choked out, his voice quivering, "All I want is to stay with you."

"Can you... C-can you give up being... in the water?" Rei fumbled out, not knowing what else there was to say. Nagisa's head snapped up and, instead of being sad, his eyes were angry, ablaze with rage Rei had never seen in the blond.

"What kind of advice is that?" Nagisa asked, his eyes narrowed. Rei reached out for him by Nagisa clambered away quickly, standing in front of Rei, his hands balled at his sides, "This doesn't work like that! There's no _magic_ involved. Just science, and, according to you, that's finite!" he said, his voice shaking with anger, using Rei's words against him "I thought you of all people would know that, Rei-chan!"

"I-I. Nagisa, please wa-"

"I might as well leave then," Nagisa cut Rei's pleading off, "If you can't think of anything, Rei-chan."

"No! Nagisa! Listen, please!" Rei said loudly, surging forward from the couch to grab Nagisa's shoulders tightly. Nagisa stumbled back, his eyes widened at the sudden contact, "I don't want you to leave! You can't leave! What ever made you think I would want that?" Rei knew he was yelling, his voice raising as his hands tightened on Nagisa's shoulders, "Nagisa, you," he choked out, feeling his eyes stinging as tears came to them, "Nagisa, I can't describe how much you... _mean_ to me. So please... listen," he begged.

"R-Rei-chan," Nagisa shakily breathed, staring up at him with wide eyes.

"I don't want to go back to life without you," Rei heard himself saying, "I _can't _go back to that. Every day being dull, with nothing to look forward to. So please, please don't leave." Yes, that definitely sounded right. Nagisa was the light in his life, and there was no way he could let him go, not now, not _ever_.

"Do you... D-do you really mean that, Rei-chan?" Nagisa voice came, small and held with bated breath.

"Yes, yes of course," Rei said, looking up from where he was staring at the floor, desperation in his eyes, "Of course I mean it. I'll say it again, over and over if I have to so please, please don't leave."

The room was muted for a few moments before Nagisa surged forward and wrapped his arms around Rei again, taking in a shaky breath against Rei's chest. Rei accepted him into his arms, pulling him close and holding him there.

"We'll fix this, I promise, Nagisa," he murmured, his fingers sliding through tousled blond curls, "We'll figure this out, together. I promise you."

Nagisa nodded against his chest, looking up at him with watery coral eyes, "Thank you, Rei-chan," he said softly, a small smile coming over his features, "You mean the same to me, Rei-chan. You know that right?"

"Yes. I know, I know," Rei breathed. Nagisa craned upward and connected their lips gently and Rei obliged, pressing back against Nagisa's soft lips. He held Nagisa close, cradling his head in one hand while his other pressed against his lower back, pulling them as close as possible. When their lips broke, Nagisa stared up at Rei with sleepy eyes.

"I'm sorry I yelled at you, Rei-chan," he murmured, bring a hand up to touch Rei's cheek.

"Don't worry about it. I understand," Rei smiled, "You look tired. Let's go to bed early, okay?" Nagisa nodded in agreement letting out a yawn and Rei led him upstairs.

* * *

Nagisa's eyes opened in the dark of the bedroom. As per the norm, he was curled into Rei's side. The other boy was sleeping soundly, and Nagisa took a few moments just to watch his chest rise and fall as breaths of air puffed from his slightly parted lips. Smiling softly to himself, he slipped from the bed, quietly standing on the floor.

He didn't bother leaving any sort of note as he left. He knew Rei would come after him when he saw he was gone. He needed to get to the ocean, to feel the salt water, to think.

* * *

Rei woke to the sound of his alarm clock beeping shrilly in the room. He reached to turn it off and sighed, rubbing at his eyes as he slipped his glasses on.

Only then did he notice the absence of the blond.

"Nagisa?" He called out, loud enough to heard through the house, "Nagisa? Are you here?" He looked around, hearing no noise from his home. He was instantly worried, perhaps a little panicked, and he got dressed quickly in his tracksuit before he left the house in a rush.

His shoes hit the pavement hard as he ran for the beach, hoping desperately that Nagisa would be there.

Why would he leave? He wouldn't just leave like that would he? After what they talked about? After the conclusion they came to?

Rei worried thoughts ended almost as soon as they started when he stepped into the cave Nagisa called home and found the blond fast sleep. His upper body was lying on the rocks, his head resting on his arms in his sleep while his newly transformed tail was submerged in the water. Rei smile to himself, cursing himself mentally for even thinking Nagisa would just leave. He needed to have more faith.

"Nagisa? Hey, Nagisa, wake up," he murmured gently, crouching besides the blond to shake his shoulder lightly. Sleepy eyes opened and blinked before they turned up to look at Rei. A smile spread over Nagisa's face at the sight of Rei there; he was right, the other had come looking for him.

"Morning, Rei-chan," he mumbled sleepily, pushing off the rocks to submerged himself in the water, sufficiently wetting his hair and skin before he came back up, "Sorry I left. I wanted to go back to the water," he explained, "You're not mad, are you?"

"No, no, I couldn't be mad," Rei chuckled lightly, noting the discarded clothes and bandages in the corner of the cave on the sand. "Are your injuries all better now?"

"Yep!" Nagisa chirped, giving him a bright smile, "They heal faster in water, especially ocean water," he said, flipping onto his back to stare up at Rei with bright eyes.

"Are you here to swim with me, Rei-chan? You could do it right? Be late for school and just swim with me? Please?" Rei sighed, adjusting his glasses. He hadn't been tardy all year, but the begging tone of voice and the eagerness in Nagisa's eyes made him want to change that.

"I'll be back," he said, giving the blond an equally bright smile. He had to run home and get his swimsuit, but he was sold, "And then we can swim."

* * *

Rei ended up being three hours late for school after getting his swimsuit, swimming with Nagisa, showering to rid himself of the salt water, and catching a late train to school.

But it was so worth it. He started the day in a better mood than he had been in for a long while, and when Miyu asked him if Nagisa was still around, he blissfully ignored her.

He was sitting idly in a study hall, scribbling down physics notes he missed from another student's notebook, when the door to the classroom opened.

"Rei Ryugazaki?" A voice called and Rei looked up and back to the door at the sound of his name.

"Yes?" He asked, his eyes curiously scanning the people in the doorway. His eyes widened slightly when he saw Watanabe-sensei towards the back of them, a concerned look on his face.

"Ryugazaki-kun. We have some questions to ask you," the man in front said, "Please collect your belongings and come with us."

A cold feeling of dread went though Rei, but he remained unfazed on the outside. He quietly packed up his study materials and put his backpack on, going with them without a fuss.

* * *

Notes

Okay! There's chapter nine! Yet another reason why this took so long was that I was completely stuck on what to do with this story after this chapter.

But worry not! I have successfully planned chapters ten and eleven. Expect ten soon because of my long weekend and homework free week next week because of state testing!

Thanks for reading and commenting! Also, thanks for over 2000 views both here and on AO3! It means so much to me! I never thought this story would even be paid attention to.

Stay tuned for more!


	10. Chapter 10

Rei tried not to show how tense he was as he followed the men down the hallway away from his classroom. He knew this was going to be about Nagisa. A sneaking suspicion wouldn't accurately describe his thoughts on the matter. With Watanabe there, there was no doubt in his mind that the questions they would be asking him would be about the blond.

He spent the remainder of the walk, getting a completely level head, planning dozens of responses to possible questions he could be asked, and by the time they reached their destination, which turned out to be Watanabe's office, Rei was confident that he could remain completely passive and ignorant during any questions they asked him.

"So, Ryugazaki-san," one of the men, whom Rei presumed was also a scientist, started when they were all seated in the office, the four of them in front of Rei, "We just had some brief questions for you about your involvement in the situation that occurred in the labs a few days ago."

"Situation?" Rei asked, raising an eyebrow at the man, "I saw the news people here, but none of the students were ever told what happened," he shrugged, "What happened?" He asked the last question to gauge their reactions. If they answered him, they would have a higher knowledge of where Nagisa was.

The man exchanged a brief glance with Watanabe before bringing his eyes back to Rei, "It is not of import that you know _all_ the details."

Ah, so they were just testing him. Rei resisted smirking. These men were too easy to read.

"I understand," he said, making sure he remained cooperative in their eyes. He waited for the next question, keeping a serious but oblivious look on his face.

"Do you remember clearly what you saw in the laboratories, Ryugazaki-san?" Rei had anticipated that question and he gave a well-rehearsed shrug.

"Some soft of fish," Rei said, "I didn't get a good look before they all threw us out for some reason," he shrugged, moving to adjust his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"That isn't what your reaction said, Ryugazaki-san," Watanabe finally spoke up, his eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Your reaction. We have it on video of course," Watanabe said, turning his attention to the television in the room. Rei felt his blood run cold at Watanabe's words and he casually wiped his sweaty palms on his pants, trying not to look nervous. He remembered how shocked he felt when he had seen Nagisa in that room; he could only imagine what his expression actually looked like.

The television came on to show a grainy, no doubt zoomed in, section of camera footage. Rei saw himself even in the bad definition of video. His eyes were wide, his lips parted slightly in shock. Had the video been in color, no doubt his face would've been pale. He swallowed hard, trying to hold onto the last scraps of his quickly failing composure.

"What do you make of that, Ryugazaki-san?"

Rei knew he couldn't be quiet for too long; that would make him even more suspicious.

"What do you mean?" he asked, narrowing his eyes in confusion.

"Your reaction. In this video. What do you make of it?"

"That's a completely convoluted question,."

"You're avoiding the point."

"Because you won't tell me your point."

Silence.

"We see recognition."

Silence.

Rei let out a short laugh, forcing a smile to spread across his face, "Recognition? Are you kidding?" he laughed, covering his mouth with his hand, "I'm sorry but that's absolutely ridiculous." He sat back in his chair, a carefree smile on his face as he looked over the scientists' irritated faces.

"How often do you go to the beach, Ryugazaki-san?" One of the scientists finally broke the silence.

"The beach?" Rei asked, "I run in my free time for track so I pass by there every so often."

"So you are there frequently?"

"Yes, I just said that. But not actually on the sand or near the water," Rei said, "I can barely even swim."

"You asked me about mythical creatures once. Remember?" Watanabe brought up, raising an eyebrow at Rei.

"I was out of sorts then," Rei said, "The track team nearly got into a boating accident after a meet. I made it to shore. I had underestimated my meager swimming skills is all. I made it to shore just fine and I had some mild amnesia from the lack of oxygen during the time. If you need clarification, I'm sure the doctors wouldn't be too happy to take time out of their busy schedules to remember a patient who wasn't even there for twenty-four hours, but if you must," Rei sighed.

The scientists were quiet, exchanging looks before the one doing most of the questioning turned his gaze back to Rei.

"You may go, Ryugazaki-san."

* * *

The amount of relief Rei felt when he was out of the room and walking down the hall was so overwhelming he had to stop walking. The cool feeling of the brick wall in the hallway felt heavenly against his forehead that was drenched in cold sweat. His entire body was. He had managed to maintain his composure, and he applauded himself mentally for that.

After splashing his face with water as cold as he could get in the restroom, he knew he had to find Miyu before he left school to get to Nagisa.

He nearly crashed into Miyu as soon as he rushed from the bathroom to find her. Apparently, she had been looking for him too.

"Ryugazaki-kun," she breathed, her hands on her knees as she caught her breath.

"Yamada-senpai," Rei stammered once he got over the shock of nearly knocking the older girl down, "Did they-"

"Yeah," Miyu interrupted, standing upright again as she straightened her skirt and smoothed down where her hair had become ruffled from running, "They think we're... Like, in league together or something?"

"In league?"

"Mhm... They told me they only wanted to talk to me because I'm friends with you... And you're suspicious or something."

"I see." Rei muttered, narrowing his eyes in thought with the new information.

"They're going to be watching you, Ryugazaki-kun. Me too, but you more," she said, "You saw that video right? You're not going to get off the hook just because you're a good actor."

"Watching me?"

"Yes. And you know what that means, right?" Miyu asked exasperatedly. When she only received a confused look from Rei she sighed, smacking him lightly on the arm, "You can't go be with your fishy boyfriend, idiot," Miyu said, his voice dropping to a harsh whisper, "Oh, don't give me that look. He practically _oozes_ possessiveness," she said, giggling at the bewildered look that came over Rei's face, "But I'm serious, Ryugazaki-kun. You can't see him."

"I understand," Rei said, his voice quiet, disappointment and worry lacing it, "But for how long? What is he supposed to do?"

"Go now. You have time since classes are still in session," Miyu said, "We'll get through this, Ryugazaki-kun," she said, a small smile on her lips, trying to reassure Rei, though he didn't feel reassured at all in the slightest.

* * *

"Rei-chan?"

Rei barely heard Nagisa's utterance of his name over the pounding of his pulse in his head. He had taken the train and ran to see Nagisa as fast as he could. He crouched into the sand, his breath coming in pants as he tried to level it again.

"Rei-chan? What's wrong? What are you doing here?" Nagisa was in the water, a concerned look on his face, his eyebrows turned up in worry. He pushed himself up no the rocks, stretching out a wet hand to take Rei's hand in his own, giving it a squeeze.

"Nagisa," Rei breathed, tightening his hold on Nagisa's hand, intertwining their fingers as he looked to the blond.

"What's wrong? Why did you run here?" Nagisa's questions came again, his tone even more serious that before.

"I... The people at the university, they think I know where you are," he managed to get out, "So I... I think they'll be watching me..." He trailed off, not wanting to tell Nagisa that they won't be able to see each other for a while, a while being an indefinite length of time.

"So you can't come spend time with me, Rei-chan?" Nagisa asked his tone turning sad and his grip tightening on Rei's, "That's so mean, Rei-chan! They should leave you alone!"

"I'm sorry, Nagisa," Rei said softly, moving to sit instead of crouching, scooting closer to Nagisa so the blond wouldn't have to reach so far to hold his hand, "I... I just don't think they'll let you go that easily..."

"That's stupid!" Nagisa said incredulously, slapping the water with his free hand, "They should leave us alone!"

"You know why they can't do that, Nagisa," Rei said softly, stroking his thumb over Nagisa's knuckles, "They don't know if you're a danger or not. They don't know anything about you."

"They think I'm bad then?" Nagisa asked, his eyes widening.

"No! No, Nagisa, they just don't know anything about you and a lot of humans just... automatically presume that something new, something unheard of, is bad or troublesome. It's not you, okay?" Rei tried to explain, hoping Nagisa would understand.

"So I have to show them that I'm not a threat?" Rei sighed; Nagisa just wasn't understanding and it was frustrating and a little heart breaking at the same time.

"No, Nagisa. Don't do that. Don't go out of your way to prove yourself to people who don't deserve it," Rei said gently, "As much as I don't want you to, I think... I think you need go. You need to get away from here if just for a little while." The words physically hurt him to get out and his grip tightened on Nagisa's hand, "I want you to be safe..."

"I'm not going to leave. I won't," Nagisa said stubbornly, "I won't fall for their traps again, Rei-chan, I promise. And they'll never catch me in the water, you know that," he said, "I'm going to stay right here until they stop being stupid and let us be together," he said, a determined pout on his face. Rei sighed again, knowing there would be no swaying Nagisa when he had such a determined look on his face.

"Fine," Rei sighed, "But be safe, alright? Please. I don't know when I'll get to come see you again, but don't leave the water. And be safe," he repeated, squeezing Nagisa's hand tightly.

"Okay. I promise, Rei-chan," Nagisa said, smiling sweetly. He stretching up, cupping Rei's cheek with his free hand, pulling the cobalt haired down to connect their lips.

Rei was surprised at the deepness of the kiss, how Nagisa's lips were pressing more insistently on his own, a sense of longing in the action. He sighed against Nagisa's lips, letting his eyes flutter shut as he returned the gesture, moving his lips softly against Nagisa's. It was bittersweet and Rei knew it.

He didn't want it to be this way.

* * *

As predicted, Rei easily picked up on the fact he was being watched both at school and on his way home. Miyu affirmed that she too was being watched and she didn't like it. She had tried to talk to Watanabe about it, but he feigned ignorance and waved her off, which on made her madder. Rei didn't bother with trying to argue with her. He knew they would give up eventually and then he could go back to spending his afternoons with Nagisa.

His afternoons and nights had been dull without Nagisa's company and it had only been two days. If he was feeling this way, he couldn't imagine how lonely Nagisa must be feeling. He at least had Miyu to talk to and the track team. Nagisa had no one and it made Rei's heart ache to think that.

A storm was raging outside and distracting Rei from his homework. His thoughts kept going from physics equations to Nagisa's welfare. He had to keep telling himself that Nagisa would be fine. He knew Nagisa was an excellent swimmer, but the meteorologists had forecasted that this would be one of the worst storms of the year.

When the power flickered and then went out completely, Rei decided it was probably for the best that he turn in early. He could never sleep well with a storm outside, and that would only be made worse with his worrying about Nagisa.

* * *

The sky was dark, rolling with angry clouds, illuminated by white lightning and accented by the heavy sounds of thunder. Rei was standing on the beach, the sand wet getting in between his toes. The ocean was dark and as angry looking as the sky. Large waves were crashing against the shore, spraying foam over the sand. Rain was coming down hard, and Rei could feel how the drops stung when they hit his skin.

He was confused. He didn't remember coming to the beach. Why would he? He couldn't see Nagisa right now-

Nagisa.

He eyes went to the water, scanning the waves as a peculiar feeling of dread went through him. He saw Nagisa in the water, struggling to say up, eyes wide and scared.

He realized he was running.

Had he been the entire time?

His feet were slapping the wet sand, but the water wasn't getting any closer, _Nagisa_ wasn't getting any closer. His legs burned, his lungs burned, he was moving but everything was so far away.

_"Rei-chan!"_

"Nagisa!" The blond's name left his lips in a hoarse yell as he woke with a start, sitting up in bed. His skin was coated in sweat, his eyes wide and his breathing hard. He brought a hand up to his chest, feeling how his heart was pounding frantically against his rib cage.

It was only a dream, a nightmare, it wasn't real.

But it had felt so real. Never once had he considering in the dream that it wasn't real, and the feeling of dread persisted, sinking deeper into his mind and body and he knew he had to go out. He had to make sure Nagisa was safe. It was selfish, a selfish need for him to have closure that the one person who meant something to him was alright.

He'd never dressed faster in his life. He pulled on a jacket and laced his shoes messily, knowing they would get utterly soaked by the rain anyway. It was dark, but the road would be light enough from street lamps.

He didn't even bother to lock up his home. No one would be out in this weather.

Rei's shoes hit the wet concrete as he ran, water quickly soaking through his jacket and shoes, making his feet uncomfortable cold. He didn't care. He had to get to the cave.

"Nagisa?" He yelled over the wind and the rain as he neared the blond's makeshift home, "Nagisa, are you-"

He stopped himself from finishing the sentence. There was no one there to hear it. The pool was empty; Nagisa wasn't there.

In a second, Rei was off running again. His entire body was thrumming as waves of dread and fear went through him. Nagisa wasn't safe. He was gone. He wasn't where Rei could see him, hear him, know he was okay.

Rei was at the beach in minutes. It was like he was recreating his nightmare. This wasn't right. It wasn't okay, and the feeling that something was horribly wrong was only increasing as his heart beat against his ribs. His eyes scanned the waves, the sand, but it was dark. The street lamps didn't cast enough light over, especially in the storm.

Lightning flashed in the sky, a blue-white streak jutting through the dark clouds, casting just enough light for Rei to make out blond hair and pink scales through water covered glasses.

He felt cold and all sound disappeared around him as he ran forward, nearly falling as he slipped on the wet sand trying to reach Nagisa's unmoving form.

"Nagisa!" He yelled, hoping in vain that the blond would move, pick his head up, and yell back.

But no sound came and no movement could be seen, and Rei knew why as soon as he reached him.

"Nagisa! Nagisa!" He said urgently, falling to his knees next to the blond on the sand, turning him onto his back and pulling his upper body into his lap.

There was blood and he felt sick.

Rei was never one to get squeamish at the sight of blood, but seeing it oozing steadily from a wound on Nagisa's forehead, running diluted down his skin and staying in his wet blond hair, the sight almost made him want to vomit.

Almost

He couldn't. He couldn't get sick when Nagisa was unresponsive in his arms. His eyes continued down Nagisa's cold body, only getting more and more alarmed. Nagisa's arms had several deep cuts in them, sending diluted blood running down his wet skin.

And then Rei's eyes reached his tail and he froze in shock. The wounds on his arms were nothing compared to what marred his tail. Deep gashes ran through the scaled skin, showing clearly where _something_ had torn the skin and taken some of the scales straight off.

"Nagisa! Nagisa, please! Please wake up! Nagisa!" He was screaming, barely hearing his own voice over the wind and rain.

Something inside him told him his begging was futile. Nagisa wasn't going to just wake up. The entire situation wouldn't suddenly be okay if the blond awoke. Nothing about what was happening was okay, and Rei almost started thinking this was still a nightmare all in his head.

He had to force himself to accept the reality of the situation. Nagisa was bleeding heavily in his arms from wounds that wouldn't just go away.

Rei needed help. He had to get help. He was shaking and he registered that tears were running down his face at the state Nagisa was in.

Who would help him? He couldn't call the police; they would think he was some sort of lunatic.

Holding Nagisa against him with one arm, his wet fingers slipped trying to pull out his cellphone from his pocket. His fingers slid over the numbers, barely able to press them from being so numb with cold.

"Hello?"

When the voice the receptionist at the university came over the phone, Rei felt relief wash over him, but he couldn't get too accustomed to it yet.

"Y-yes, hello," he said, hating how his voice quivered from the cold and the rain, "Is Watanabe-sensei still there? Please connect me to him," he said hurriedly, practically yelling over the rain.

"Watanabe. Who's calling?"

"S-sensei, please listen to me," Rei said hurriedly, "I-I'm sorry. You were right a-and now I need h-help... Nagisa... he needs help, p-please."

"Ryugazaki-san? Is that you?" Watanabe's voice sounded again, sharp and confused, "Ryugazaki-san, please calm down. What's the matter?"

"You were right. I-I'm sorry. I had to protect him," Rei choked out, his tears burning on his numb cheeks.

"Is this about the... The specimen that escaped?"

"Yes! H-he's hurt. Please, _please_ you have to help me!" Rei said, feeling his breathing picking up and his mind switching over to hysterics.

"Calm down, Ryugazaki-san!" Watanabe said loudly and Rei heard the shuffling of papers and clothing in the background, "Tell me where you are. I'll be there as fast as I can." Rei could hear urgency in the professor's tone and, as much as it should've reassured him, when he cast another look down at Nagisa, it only made him more fearful.

"The beach. Near the docks. Th-thank you," he said quickly and Watanabe hung up.

There was nothing left to do but wait. Rei hurriedly wrapped his jacket around Nagisa's body, ignoring how blood seeped into the fabric as he tried to stop the bleeding. He distantly heard himself begging out loud, asking for Nagisa to hold on, pleading for him to stay with him even though the blond couldn't hear him.

He wouldn't let Nagisa go this easily. He wouldn't let him just die in his arms. Rei was selfish when it came to Nagisa, and Nagisa meant more than anything.

And he hated that all he could do was wait and beg and pray for Nagisa to be alright.

* * *

**Notes:**

This was painful to write I'm sorry ;n;

Another reason why this took so long is that I was stuck on what to do with this chapter I planned. But I'm all good now! And I think I have everything planned up until the end~

Thank you for any and all comments!

Stay tuned~


	11. Chapter 11

The steady beeping of the heart monitor filled Rei's mind. He had to resist flinching at each intrusive, shrill beep that broke into his mind. He hated the sound

But, at the same time, he _needed_ to hear it. Every five seconds he counted in his head, the sound would come. He could breathe easy. He could count another five seconds before he expected the sound to stop the train of numbers and he'd have to restart. The first and second seconds were used on the breath of air he would be able to take in, the third second went by fast, always interrupted as the machine breathing for Nagisa made a whooshing sound, and the four second was when panic ensued.

What if the sound never came? What if he kept counting? What if the hand he clasped so tightly in his own grew colder and colder with each number he ticked by in his mind?

The fifth second was almost missed in his panicked musings, and then the counting would restart with each steady bleep of the machine.

He didn't know how long he had been sitting there. From a logical standpoint, he could've counted every five-second interval, added it to the half-second the beep of the machine took up – one half-second for each period of five seconds – and add that growing number to the amount of time it took for them to get to the beach to the lab.

But Rei was beyond that sort of deductive reasoning.

Watanabe had brought a van to the beach after Rei had called him. Rei knew he must've gone way above the speed limit in order to get there so quickly, but ethics of the law were the last thing on his mind, especially when all he could feel was Nagisa's hot blood oozing through the fabric of his jacket and staining his hands. The flow had slowed a bit from the pressure, but the blood had still been coming too fast.

He hadn't even realized that Watanabe had shown up until there was a hand on his shoulder that startled him. With the scientist's help, he carried Nagisa in a shallow tub of ocean water into the back of the van. Rei remained with him the entire ride, holding him close, not caring about how soaked his clothes were.

Once they got to the lab, someone had to hold him back when the scientists took Nagisa away from him. He was too busy yelling to realize that person was Watanabe. The man was trying to get him to calm down, telling him they wouldn't hurt Nagisa, that they would do whatever they could to help him.

But Rei was protective to the extreme and Watanabe had to force him to sit down outside the lab, close to yelling to get through to him.

"You have to let me go in! I can't leave him alone! H-He's hurt! Let me back in! Please!"

"Ryugazaki-san! Calm down!"

"No! Y-you have to let me-"

"Ryugazaki-san! Stop talking for a minute!"

The hall was silent after and Rei swallowed hard, feeling tears prickling in his eyes. His heart was pounding against his ribcage and he could hear it in his ears. Watanabe wore a mixed expression; worry, stress, and uncertainty present in his features.

"That's better," the professor breathed, adjusting his glasses, "Now, Ryugazaki-san. I want you to be there for your friend. I want you to. But you need to calm down, Ryugazaki-san, understand?" Rei gave a solemn nod, staring at his knees. His hands were clutching his knees, his knuckles white from the tension.

"Now. We're going to do whatever we can to save your friend. He is in bad shape. You need to stay calm. He needs you to be there for him," Watanabe said, his voice serious.

"I know. I understand. I'll calm down, sensei," Rei said, his voice hoarse from the yelling he did on the beach.

"Alright. Come on. Let's go back in."

The scientists had been trying to help Nagisa while Rei and Watanabe were in the hall. As they walked back in and Rei approached where they were working on him he felt his heart pick up in fear.

Nagisa's face was ashen from blood loss, his chest weakly rising and falling as the scientist scurried around. Neat stitches had already been made in the gash in his head and they were starting on his arms, which were worse than the head injury.

Rei could tell they were panicked and clueless, especially clueless about what to do with Nagisa's injured tail.

"Get him in ocean water." He heard himself give the order, surprised at how steady his voice was despite his heart frantically pounding in his chest. The scientists stopped momentarily to the look him, their eyes asking for explanation.

"It helps to heal him. Any water does, but ocean water especially," Rei said, looking to Watanabe after he finished speaking.

"What are you staring for? Get on with it!" Watanabe ordered loudly when the scientists didn't move. Two of them immediately jumped and nodded, fumbling out affirmatives before they went to complete the task.

Now, Rei was sitting bedsides Nagisa, holding his hand tightly and counting the seconds as they went by. The scientists had somehow gotten a hospital bed into a tub deep enough of salt water so that the water stayed in a thin layer over his body from the neck down. He hadn't made any sort of sign of waking up and that chilled Rei to the bone.

The scientists knew he needed blood after losing so much, but when they tried to analyze his blood type, the results were inconclusive, as Rei had expected.

They wound in his tail was by far the worse, and the scientists had no idea how to fix it. Rei's free hand curled into a fist at the memory of their confused expressions. They were supposed to be intelligent, right? They were supposed to know how to deal with this kind of thing. So why didn't they?

They didn't know how to deal with this.

No one did.

Nagisa wasn't just another injured marine animal. He was out of myth, and there wasn't a single explanation in any textbook or the Internet on how to fix him.

"Ryugazaki-san." Rei jumped at Watanabe's voice behind him and the hand placed gently on his shoulder. He whipped his head around to see the man standing with a solemn look on his face.

"I think it's time we had a chat, Ryugazaki-san. And maybe you should step away for a moment," the scientist said, his voice firm yet gentle. Only by his words did Rei realize he was shaking so he nodded, slipped off the stool he had been perched on for who knows how long, and followed Watanabe into another room.

He sat at a table, the chair under him far more comfortable than the stool and sighed, leaning heavily on the table.

"Here." Watanabe's voice was back and he looked up to see a steaming cup of coffee being held out to him. He accepted it with a whisper of thanks, raising the paper cup to his lips. The coffee burned his tongue, but it was _warmth_ and Rei was freezing. His body had been numb with cold since he saw Nagisa, and his still damp clothes didn't help at all.

"So, Ryugazaki-san," Watanabe said, sitting besides Rei with his own coffee in hand, "I think we both know by that you were not entirely truthful before, yes? But worry not, I am not mad," the professor started, sipping his own drink, "I just want to hear the truth so we can continue helping... Nagisa you said his name was?"

"Yeah," Rei said quietly, giving a small nod, "Nagisa."

He was quiet again and he knew Watanabe was waiting, but he didn't know how to begin. The same way he had started with Miyu? His memories of Nagisa were happy and bright, and he didn't even want to think of them at that moment. He knew he had to however. Watanabe had helped him when he didn't have to for a second. His scientists had saved Nagisa's life because God knows Rei wouldn't have been able to do anything.

"He saved me from drowning," Rei said after taking a deep breath.

"When was this?"

"A few months ago. In the spring. After a track meet. That of what I told you was true, but then I couldn't swim. I was going to die, but he saved me," Rei murmured.

"I see. Does he do that a lot?"

"No," Rei said, shaking his head, "He doesn't. He just said that... that he was lonely." He felt a pang of sadness go through him as he remembered Nagisa's words when he had first asked the blond's intention. It had made him feel hurt then too.

"Lonely? So he does not have contact with any of his own kind?" Watanabe asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Not that I know of," Rei said, "He mentioned once that he had family, sisters I think, but he told me he went off on his own a while ago."

"Ah. So you have not met anyone else like him?"

"No."

Rei was quiet for a few minutes, mulling over everything in his mind. He suddenly remembered Miyu's words and his eyes widened.

"You... You won't... Hurt him, right? Please don't hurt him," Rei said, hearing himself begging so easily. He couldn't help it; he was desperate.

"Hurt him?" Watanabe asked, a confused look coming over his face, "Why ever would we hurt him? He's a living being and, from what you've told me, he obviously possesses intelligence akin to that of mankind's. It would completely inhumane to hurt him in anyway."

Rei shoulders sagged in relief. Miyu was wrong. They wouldn't lay a hand on him. Nagisa was _safe_ here. Nagisa would get help here, get better here, be protected here.

"Why would you think we would hurt him, Ryugazaki-san? Just wondering..."

"I heard from... I-I mean, I just heard around that the marine biology department could be... A little cruel?" the words sounded so stupid coming out of his mouth when he heard them out loud, especially because Watanabe had already promised no harm would come to Nagisa.

"Ah ha, I see," Watanabe hummed, "A few years ago, we had some trouble with a few poorly trained scientists in the lab. One of our animals we were rehabilitating became ill and eventually died because those men weren't getting them suitable living conditions. I assure you we have disposed of those scientists and nothing like that will _ever_ happen again."

"I understand," Rei nodded. He could hear the anger in Watanabe's voice as he spoke about the negligent scientists and he could hear pride as well. Watanabe was clearly very proud of his department and it's accomplishments even through its misgivings.

"Were you responsible for helping him escape before?"

There it was. Rei had been expecting that question and he looked down at his knees, shaking his head no. It wasn't exactly a lie either.

"No, it wasn't me. It was- Just not me. Someone else," Rei said, cutting himself off before he said Miyu's name. He knew she probably wouldn't get in trouble, but he didn't want her getting mixed up in all of this. It would only become more complicated.

"It's quite amazing if you think about it," Watanabe said, causing Rei to look up. The man was relaxed back in his chair, his eyes inquisitive behind his glasses, "Your friend is quiet small and yet he had the strength in him to break open a tank that massive with just sheer power. Remarkable," he breathed.

"Y-Yes," Rei said awkwardly, "Nagisa is extraordinary. He's a beautiful swimmer too. If he- _When_ he wakes up," he corrected himself, "Maybe he will allow you to see him in the water."

"That would be truly fascinating," Watanabe said, a small smile on his lips, "I would be most grateful if the both of you would allow me to see that."

"The both of us?" Rei echoed.

"Yes. I see you as a sort of... liaison for him. Though he possesses human level intelligence, he is not human and, therefore, has no rights like the rest of mankind. Without you with him, speaking for him, protecting him, I am sure he would be taken away from this place and put somewhere far worse, without even the most rudimentary of liberties."

A shudder went through Rei at the thought. No, that couldn't happen. Rei would make sure of it. He wouldn't _allow_ it to happen.

"I am guessing you didn't see him get injured," Watanabe spoke again.

"No," Rei muttered, shaking his head, "I... I had a nightmare so I had to see him. And he wasn't where we usually meet so I went along the beach and that's where... where I found him," he trailed off, shuddering at the flash of memories that went through his head: the nightmare, the panic, the horrific realization that the body on the beach was Nagisa.

"Alright then," Watanabe sighed, standing and stretching, tossing his empty coffee cup into the trash, "Come on, Ryugazaki-san. I'll drive you home."

"_Home_? N-No, I need to stay here with-"

"Ryugazaki-san," Watanabe cut him off sternly, "You're soaking wet, you're obviously exhausted, and you need some rest. Go home, get some rest, and I'll excuse you from classes tomorrow so that you may spend the day here, alright?"

Rei swallowed hard and nodded reluctantly. He couldn't argue with that, especially if Watanabe had promised him that he'd spend all day with Nagisa. That was all he wanted after all, every day, but not like this.

* * *

Unfortunately for Rei, sleep didn't come easy. The sounds of the persisting storm outside kept him awake even through his exhaustion. When he did finally fall asleep, his mind was plagued with images of Nagisa.

Nagisa lying on the sand.

Nagisa calling out for him.

Nagisa hurt, in pain, _suffering_.

He was glad when morning came.

The morning was completely unlike how the night had been. The sky was blue, the sun was bright, and the only evidence of the storm was the puddles everywhere on the wet pavement.

Rei quickly got dressed and went to the kitchen to try and down something for breakfast. As his bread toasted, he absently listened to the news in the background, the small television in his kitchen broadcasting some annoying news caster talking about the storm the previous night.

_"A fishing boat sank off of the shore late last night..."_

That got Rei's attention and he quickly turned to the television, his eyes wide.

_"The boat contained eight fishermen who were out late pulling in their nets when the storm came. Their engines failed and the boat began to go down several kilometers from the shore. Amazingly enough, none of the said fishermen were killed. All were checked out by EMTs at the pier over night and no major injuries were found on any of them. We'll now go to Shimizu Haruo-san, one of the men who was on the boat last night."_

_"I've been telling everyone,"_ the man said when he came on screen, _"I been telling them: something out there in the water saved all of us."_

_"And do you have a clear picture of what they could be?"_ The newscaster asked.

_"Nah, I couldn't see a thing. The rain was comin' down in sheets. But some of the others, they'll tell you all sorts of things. One of 'em claims he saw a _blonde girl_ out there,"_ the man snorted, _"No way. No one was swimmin' in those waters last night, especially no girls, at least no girls in their right minds."_

_"So what did you think it was, sir?"_

_"I dunno uhh... Maybe a big fish or something? Dolphin? Orca? Gentle giants, y'know. Wouldn't hurt a fly. It's a mystery."_

_"Alright, well thank you very much Shimizu-san. And now back to the studio for the weather..."_

Rei tuned the news out then, staring into nothing as he went over everything in his head. There was no doubt in his mind that Nagisa had saved those fishermen.

But why would he do something so stupid and reckless and dangerous?

Rei's mind went back to the last conversation they had and it dawned on him.

Nagisa only wanted to prove that he wasn't a danger to humans, that he could help them. So he had gone and done something like this. Something that could've killed him.

Rei knew he had to get to the labs as soon as possible. Perhaps Watanabe would agree with his thoughts and know how to help Nagisa better.

After quickly downing a glass of water and taking a few bites of toast, Rei left his house, almost forgetting to lock the door behind him in his hurry to get out.

* * *

Rei was at university and the labs in record time. He had managed to get on the earlier train to school and he was at least half-an-hour earlier than he usually was.

"Ryugazaki-san, you're here early," Watanabe remarked when Rei quickly walked in. He was the only scientist there for the time being as the others wouldn't show up until later.

"Sensei," Rei said, pausing for a second to catch his breath, "Have you seen the news?"

"The news?" Watanabe echoed, "No, I haven't. Why?" he asked, turning his full attention from the papers in front of him to Rei.

"They said a fishing boat sank in the storm," Rei said, standing up straight from where he was slightly crouched to catch his breath, "The fishermen claimed to have been rescued by something. Do you think..." he trailed off, looking to Watanabe with wide, questioning eyes. Watanabe studied him for a second before he raised his hand to his chin, narrowing his eyes in thought.

"You're saying you think that Nagisa rescued the fishermen, and got his injuries in some way from the rescue?" he said slowly, raising his eyes over the frames of his glasses to Rei.

"Yes, sir," Rei affirmed, giving him a nod.

"That is highly plausible," Watanabe said, "A boat propeller could've caused those injuries. The edges of the wounds are very smooth. I was already thinking something along the lines of a mechanical tool could've caused the injuries to your friend."

"Does that help?" Rei asked, urgency coming back to his voice, "Will that make getting him better easier? Can you deal with the wounds better now?" Watanabe sighed and stood from his seat, beckoning Rei to follow him to where Nagisa was being kept.

"I do not know, Ryugazaki-san," he sighed, "To be honest, this is a very difficult situation. We have no idea how to fix the injuries to his tail especially. It's unlike the structure of a marine mammal's tail like that of a dolphin, yet it is not like that of a regular fish. He may look human in appearance, but we have no way of determining blood type or any other characteristics," he explained as they walked, "His blood turns to water after an extended period of time and, now that we have him contained in sea water as per your instruction, he does not bleed at all."

"Then that's good right?" Rei asked, brightening slightly.

"From what we've gathered, not really," Watanabe said, regret in his tone, "Though he is not bleeding red anymore as we do, he is still bleeding slightly, but it disappears upon contact with water. It is truly perplexing."

Rei's shoulders sagged slightly in disappointment, "Then you still have no idea," he murmured.

"I'm sorry, Ryugazaki-san. I realize his importance to you, and I am concerned for his survival as well, but only time will tell," Watanabe said, holding the door to the next lab open for Rei. Rei's eyes went immediately to where Nagisa was in the room and he walked over. There was no visible change that Rei could see on Nagisa's body and his heart fell at the sight.

"Do you have any idea why he would try and rescue fishermen? I recall you told me that he didn't usually save people, only you," Watanabe asked.

"I think it's because," Rei started, reaching to take Nagisa's hand in his own once more, "Because he wanted to prove that he wasn't a danger to humans. So that he could be with me all the time. Because you all suspected me of freeing him."

Watanabe was quiet for a moment and, in that moment, Rei realized that he could direct all the guilt he was feeling onto the scientists. He was more level headed than that right now though. He was sure if he had thought that the previous night, he would've immediately blamed the scientists.

"Ah," Watanabe finally broke the silence, "Well... I am sorry then. You probably want to blame us for this, specifically me."

"No, I don't," Rei said softly, sitting in the same stool as before, keeping his eyes on Nagisa, "I only blame myself," he murmured, "I... I should've made him leave. But I was selfish. I didn't want him to. I knew I had to make him leave here and go some place safe and I could've pushed him harder to go, but, subconsciously, I didn't want him to go. So by that, this is my fault," he trailed off.

Watanabe didn't say anything after that, and the room was quiet aside for the beeps of the machines surrounding Nagisa.

"I have some work to do," the scientist finally said, "Please, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want. If anything changes or you need anything, I'll be in the next room."

Once Rei nodded, the man left the room, leaving Rei alone with his thoughts and the feeling of Nagisa's wet hand in his own.

"_I'm sorry_," Rei heard himself say out loud. He had meant to keep the words in his head, but he was alone so why not think out loud.

"I'm so sorry, Nagisa," he murmured, resting his forehead on his free hand in shame, "God, I'm sorry. This is... This _is_ all my fault," he choked, feeling tears springing into his eyes, stinging and threatening to fall. He wished Nagisa could hear his words. He wished Nagisa would wake up, squeeze his hand, look at him with those adoring eyes of his and smile. He wanted- no, he _needed_ to see that. He needed Nagisa to smile for him, to lift the heaviness in his heart to call him that stupid nickname, _something_.

_I'm selfish and I'm a coward and I just need you to be here with me._

_If you're not, then I'm nothing._

* * *

"He's not getting better," Watanabe said the next day, speaking to a select group of scientists who had helped Nagisa when he first came in and Rei, "His vitals are dropping slowly. Despite Ryugazaki-san's help, he is not getting better."

The words chilled Rei's entire body. Watanabe had pulled him aside that morning and told him the news. They needed to think of something, but, clearly, no one had any ideas. They were clueless.

"So, if anyone can think of anything, please speak up," Watanabe continued. Rei could hear the desperation in his voice and he suddenly felt appreciative of Watanabe. The man was doing his best to try and help Nagisa.

"Can we transport him?" Rei asked, suddenly having an idea.

"Transport him where exactly, Ryugazaki-san?" Watanabe asked, turning his questioning gaze to Rei, as did the other men in the room.

"There's a cave. It opens to the ocean. That's where... Where he 'lives' sort of," Rei said, stammering as he tried to phrase his words, "It's connected directly to the ocean. Perhaps if we take him there, it will help more than just being in salt water," he explained, adjusting his glasses on the bridge of his nose.

"It's worth a try then," Watanabe nodded after exchanging glances with the confused scientists in the room, "Someone get the van. We'll leave at once."

In about fifteen minutes, Rei and Watanabe were in the back of the van driven by one of the other men. After they unplugged all the medical equipment, Rei had taken Nagisa into his arms and carried him from the labs. He held him in his arms, tightening his hold whenever the van went over a bump in the road.

It's going to be okay, Nagisa.

I'm here. I'll help you.

You'll be fine.

Rei repeated the words over and over in his head, his hands absently rubbing the cold, wet skin of Nagisa's arms, hating how chilled the blond in his arms seemed.

They reached the beach quickly and Rei got out with Nagisa, waiting for Watanabe to tell the driver to wait there.

"It's just this way," Rei said, his voice heavy with concentration as he carefully carried Nagisa and showed Watanabe the way to the cave.

The cave was as same as it was when he left it. His footprints from the night of the storm were still in the sand and the hurriedness by which they were made was evident in the way they were pressed into the ground.

"Well, Ryugazaki-san," Watanabe said, eyeing the pool of water before he looked to Rei, "After you then."

Rei nodded, toeing off his shoes with some difficultly before he stepped into the water, not caring as the legs of his pants were soaked. He crouched in the water slightly so that the water covered Nagisa's body.

Then he waited.

And waited.

"Is anything happening?" Watanabe's hushed voice broke the silence.

"No," Rei said, the panic he was feeling apparent in his voice. Why wasn't anything happening? He hadn't expected an immediately change, but something, _anything_, should have happened. He gently splashed water over Nagisa's face and smoothed water through his hair, staring down at the limp form in his arms.

"Ryugazaki-san... perhaps we should head`"

"No! Just wait a little longer. Please," he said loudly, his voice shaking.

A minute went by.

Two then.

And then three.

Then Nagisa tensed in his arms and Rei's heart skipped a beat.

"N-Nagisa?" Rei choked, shaking him slightly, feeling how every muscle in Nagisa's body was taut and tensed against him, "N-Nagisa... Wake up... Wake up, Nagisa, _please_," he said hurriedly, shaking him more, his wide eyes scanning his body.

Nagisa's body went limp again and Rei fell silent, waiting for coral colored eyes to open, waiting for him to make a sound, move, _something_.

"Nagisa?" he choked out, his eyes focused on the blond's face.

He felt the water shift behind him as Watanabe stepped into the water, coming close to him. The scientist pressed his fingers to Nagisa's neck, holding a hand over the blond's nose and lips, feeling of a pulse, for a breath. He nudged Rei's arm out of the way and pressed a hand on Nagisa's chest, then his ear to the same area, listening.

"Ryugazaki-san," Watanabe said quietly, lifting his head back up to look at Rei. Rei hadn't pulled his gaze away from Nagisa's face and he didn't look up even when Watanabe placed a hand on his shoulder, "Ryugazaki-san, he's-"

"Don't say it," Rei cut him off, his voice shaking, his shoulders and entire body shaking, "Please don't say it. I won't believe it..."

"Ryugazaki-san. We should bring him back to-"

"No! No, we won't!" Rei yelled, tightening his hold on Nagisa, holding him close to his chest, "Just get out! Get out! Now!" He felt Watanabe's eyes on him before the man nodded, moving to get out of the water and leave the cave.

When his footfalls faded, Rei couldn't hold back the sobs threatening to rip from his throat.

"Nagisa! N-Nagisa, please! Please don't do this! Wake up... W-wake up, p-please!" he shouted, shaking the blond again.

"This is all my fault, okay? I-Is that what you want to hear? Please, Nagisa! D-don't do this! Please!" he sobbed, pressing his face to Nagisa cold chest, which he knew now would only grow colder.

This wasn't happening. This couldn't be happening. This was cruel. Nagisa didn't deserve this. Nagisa deserved to be happy, to be alive, to get to swim whenever he wanted. He didn't deserve a short life.

Rei didn't want this. Rei wanted him to wake up. He realized long age he was selfish; selfish when it came to Nagisa because Nagisa was the only one. The only person he cared genuinely about in the world. Nagisa had become his everything in a just a few short months.

And in just a few short days, Nagisa was gone. Ripped away by his own selfishness, by his own cowardice and stubbornness.

Rei couldn't speak. He could barely breathe from the sobs wracking his shoulders as he cradled Nagisa's prone form to his chest, feeling the difference in temperature. He could feel the hot tears sliding down his cheeks, splashing onto Nagisa's skin.

He knew he had to move. He knew that Nagisa was gone.

But he couldn't move. He didn't want to move. He couldn't just leave Nagisa behind, like a fleeting memory. Nagisa was more than that to him.

With shaky fingers, he cupped Nagisa's cheek, brushing drops of water off of his porcelain skin. He stared down at Nagisa's visage, taking in how serene and calm Nagisa looked in his arms.

Nagisa's lips were as soft as they always were when he pressed his own to the blond's, moving his lips gently, trying to memorize the feeling one last time.

After that, he sank Nagisa's body into the water to the bottom of the pool. Nagisa would've wanted that. He would've wanted to be connected to the ocean. To be in the water for eternity.

He couldn't look back one last time before he left, tear tracks still wet on his cheeks.

* * *

**_Notes:_**

Please don't hate me it gets better next chapter i promise with all my shipper heart I am very very very sorry please don't give me death threats thank you.

IT GETS BETTER I SWEAR. I may have cried while writing this. Signs points to yes.

Any comments are greatly appreciated! Thank you thank you!

Stay tuned! Next chapter will be here quicker I promise!


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